Remind Me Again
by SailorChibi
Summary: Yuugi thought everything would be okay after Yami left. But then he woke up one morning and found out that no one except for the 3 hikaris remembers the Millennium Items. It's like they never existed. Now Yuugi's been committed, Ryou is being hunted, and Malik is seeing shadows everywhere. Nothing is what it seems when the past literally comes back to get you. YxY, RxB, MxM, SxJ
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or anything you recognize from the anime/manga.  
**A/N:** New story time! Ok, so, I'm pretty sure by now everyone knows that I adore stories where the yamis return. It's either that or pretend they never left in the first place. Since I haven't done a canon-based story for a while, I figured it might be nice to gather a couple of other clichés up and have some fun. I came up with an idea for a villain and decided to wing it. I hope you all like it!

* * *

The night that everything changed, Yuugi fell asleep thinking about the pharaoh. This was notable only because he rarely allowed himself to think about Yami, since he knew that if he dwelled on what he'd lost for too long he would never stop. But in this case Yuugi had a new teacher at school, one that took an excessive amount of delight in creating the hardest tests that he could think of and then grading them with the sole goal of taking as many points away as possible, and he couldn't help thinking about what it would be like if Yami had been there to teach his teacher a lesson about playing fair.

As it turned out he didn't sleep very well that night, and he woke up the next morning with the feeling that he'd dreamt of important things he couldn't remember. That bothered him, and he went through his morning routine of getting ready much more slowly than usual. The harder he tried to remember, the further away the images of his dreams slipped. He thought he might have dreamt of Yami - he did that sometimes, because there was no way to control the subconscious - but he also thought that his dreams hadn't been happy ones, and that was troubling.

"Jii-chan," he called out as he went down the stairs. "Did you ever wake up and - oh." Yuugi cut himself off abruptly, surprised to see that both Sugoroku and Jou were waiting at the table for him. It was unusual for Jou to be there that early - normally they met on the way to the school with Jou still half asleep - and Yuugi blinked at him for several seconds before smiling in welcome. "Hey, Jou. I didn't know you were going to be joining us for breakfast. I haven't seen you up this early for a long time."

"I was just around," Jou said with a shrug. The plate in front of him was covered with syrup and the remnants of pancakes, but that didn't stop Sugoroku from putting a few more on his plate as he walked by. Jou beamed and reached for the syrup, pouring on enough that his pancakes pretty much disappeared.

"Sit down, Yuugi," said Sugoroku, piling three pancakes onto another plate and setting them down on the table. "We need to talk."

That sounded a little ominous, but Yuugi kept his smile in place as he obediently sat down. He glanced around the kitchen while he waited for Jou to be done with the syrup. Something about the cheerful little room was off, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Nothing seemed to be out of place, and yet something was. "What about, Jii-chan?" he asked finally, accepting the noticeably emptier bottle of syrup from Jou.

"You know what. It needs to stop."

Yuugi paused. He'd gotten a small dollop of syrup on his finger, and he popped it into his mouth while he studied his grandfather's serious expression. He cast his mind back, trying to come up with something that his grandfather might be angry enough to be referring to. He couldn't remember doing anything that Sugoroku might've been opposed to, but that didn't mean he hadn't done something before and Sugoroku was only just finding out about it. He'd broken a lot of rules while Yami was with him.

"Your grandfather's right, Yuugi," Jou said when the silence continued to stretch. "I mean, you're starting to attract a lot of negative attention. I heard some of the kids talking at school yesterday after you left." He shook his head hard and forked several pieces of pancake into his mouth, mumbling, "The things they were saying weren't good, man."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Yuugi said.

Sugoroku and Jou exchanged glances. "We're talking about this fantasy you have of a pharaoh," Sugoroku said gently. "And those - what did you call them? Millennium Items? I know that it's fun to think about what might happen if magic existed, but Yuugi, enough is enough. It's getting to the point where I'm seriously concerned about you and your ability to distinguish flights of fancy from reality. You have to realize that it isn't real. More to the point, you have to stop trying to convince others that it is. One of your teachers called me last night. Apparently you had some kind of breakdown in the middle of class?"

"What." Yuugi stared at his grandfather, stunned. He didn't know what to address first.

"I feel like part of this is my fault, Yuugi. Maybe I shouldn't have told you so many stories about Egypt when you were younger. If I'd known that you were going to take them so seriously..." Sugoroku trailed off and shook his head. He looked disappointed.

"But Jii-chan, the Millennium Items _are_ real." How could his grandfather have forgotten? He'd been the one who'd given Yuugi the Puzzle in the first place! He turned to look at Jou, hoping for support. "And Jou, come on. You know that the pharaoh was real, too. You were there when I fought the final duel with him. We watched him walk into the afterlife together!"

But Jou was shaking his head again, and he wore that little frown he always got when he was genuinely confused about something. "Yuugi, that's not... I don't know where you came up with this. You keep saying all these weird things and I really don't know what they mean or why you're saying them."

"That's funny, because I was going to say the same thing," Yuugi said shakily. He pushed his breakfast away, suddenly not feeling very hungry. "I didn't have a breakdown in class. And the Millennium Items were real. _Yami_ was real." He couldn't help the fact that he was starting to get upset, even though he could see that his reaction was distressing his grandfather. After everything they'd been through, he couldn't believe that two of the (living) people he cared about the most were sitting here having this conversation. "If this is a joke, I want you tell me right now. Because I don't find it very funny."

"Yuugi..." Sugoroku sighed and rubbed his forehead. He glanced over at Jou again, who gave a minute shake of the head, and said, "Just please. From now on, keep your fantasies to yourself. Your mom and I have been talking, and... Please. Okay?"

Yuugi didn't say anything, couldn't say anything, just stood up and walked out of the room. His backpack was lying by the back door, just where it always was, and he leaned down to grab it on his way past. He knew that Jou was following behind him as he walked out the door, but he was just as grateful that Jou didn't say anything else. His heart was beating fast, and he knew that anything that came out of his mouth when he was feeling this way was not going to be polite or friendly.

They were almost to school before it finally struck him what was missing from the kitchen: the picture of Yami, Jou and Anzu that had always hung on the refrigerator.

**RMA**

The sound of his alarm going off woke Ryou up from a deep sleep. One hand slowly emerged from underneath the covers and traveled across the mattress, slapping randomly at the nightstand until he made contact with the annoying clock. As the blissful silence reigned, Ryou pushed the sheets back and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, grateful for the fact that it was a Friday. All he had to do was get through one more day, including a huge test, and then he'd be free for the weekend. The thought of spending a day at the arcade with Yuugi and Jou, and maybe Anzu and Honda, was enough to bring a sleepy smile to his face as he dropped his hands into his lap.

At the sight of his room, Ryou paused. He blinked and looked around, then rubbed his eyes again as though that would make what he was seeing change. It didn't. He was still staring at blue walls decorated liberally with Monster World posters and memorabilia, including a custom-made game board set up on a table in the corner of his room. His desk was disorganized, covered with piles of schoolwork and a diorama of the planets that he had no memory of building. In disbelief, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. The feeling of carpet under his feet instead of smooth, cold floor made him flinch. This was wrong. It was all so wrong. He strode over to the window and seized the curtain, yanking it aside.

"Oh my god," he whispered, leaning against the wall as his knees buckled. The view outside was not the one he had grown accustomed to. Instead of the Domino harbor with the boats leaving for the day, he was looking at an apartment building. Specifically, into a very familiar bedroom that he had not seen for almost two years. Ryou stared dumbly, and, when a familiar face appeared, he jolted backwards and dropped the curtain.

"Ryou-kun! Oi, Ryou-kun, I know you saw me. Did you get your part of the project finished?"

His hand was shaking when he reached out and pulled the curtain back again. "Chouko-chan?" he asked tentatively.

Chouko rolled her eyes. "Of course it's me. God, Ryou-kun, we've been living across from each other for the past three years!" she shouted. "If this is your way of telling me that you don't have the diorama done, I'm going to kill you."

"No, I -" Ryou checked over his shoulder, looking at the diorama on the desk. As far as he could tell, it seemed to be finished. "I'm done."

"Good. Hurry up and get dressed, idiot. We're supposed to be meeting Jirou-kun before school, remember?" Chouko waved her hand at him before she turned and left her room, shutting the door behind her.

Ryou stared at the spot where she'd been for almost a full two minutes before he moved, letting the curtain fall back into place. His lungs felt tight, like he wasn't really getting enough air. He hadn't seen Maki Chouko for a long time, even though she had been one of his best friends before he'd moved to Domino. He had several fond memories of playing Monster World with her and their other friends, of eating dinner at her family's apartment, of walking to school together in the morning. He'd even had a crush on her, and for a while he'd thought that Chouko might have felt the same way. But all that had changed when he got the Millennium Ring as a gift from his father.

Now Ryou knew that Bakura had been the one behind all of the strange disappearances, but at the time it had been both bewildering and frightening. He hadn't made the connection at first, but it hadn't take him long to realize that everyone he associated himself with went missing. The police had picked up on it, too. They'd questioned him several times, but because Ryou literally had nothing to give them in terms of information they'd left him alone in the end - even though several of them believed he was hiding something. Chouko had been one of the first who went missing, and after rumors spread that Ryou had something to do with it he wasn't welcomed back at the Maki apartment anymore. Even after Bakura had the Monster World game that resulted in everyone being set free, Ryou hadn't tried to contact his old friends.

So what was he doing here, in his old apartment with his old friends? Why wasn't he in Domino? "Did I somehow travel through time?" he asked out loud. The idea was enough to make him shudder. He couldn't go through that again: the whispers, the anger, the loneliness. He _couldn't_. He turned, hurrying over to his desk, and seized a calendar. But much to his surprise, the date was right. It was just the location that was all wrong.

"What the hell...?" He dropped the calendar and sat back down on his bed, trying to make sense of it all. There had to be something he was missing, but what? How could he explain going to sleep in Domino City and waking up back where he used to live, almost a hundred miles away? There was no logical explanation for that.

Which left one possibility. Ryou swore under his breath. Magic. He scrubbed his hands over his face and got up. It was Friday, which meant Yuugi and the others would be in school. But if he took the train he could be there by lunch. He got dressed, ran a brush through his hair, and took his wallet and the diorama. Chouko was waiting downstairs for him. She smiled when he came out, and Ryou stopped short. That smile used to make his stomach itch with butterflies, but it didn't anymore. Too much had happened and he didn't know how to deal with that.

"About time," Chouko said. She stepped closer to him and frowned when he failed to smile back. "Ryou-kun, you alright?"

"Do you remember when you went missing?" Ryou asked abruptly.

"Do I - _what_?" Chouko stared at him. "I never went missing. What's wrong with you?"

Ryou exhaled and nodded. "Here," he said, thrusting the diorama into her hands. He took off, ignoring her calling after him. He needed to talk to Yuugi in person.

**RMA**

"Malik. Malik, wake up."

"Oh, go away," Malik mumbled, rolling over onto his stomach. He'd had a late night with his schoolwork and he wanted to get a few more minutes of sleep. He tried to bury his face into his pillow, but it was rudely yanked away a moment later. He huffed and looked up, glaring at his older sister. She just smirked at him and lightly smacked the pillow against the back of his head.

"Get up," she said. "You'll be late." She tossed the pillow down on the end of the bed and walked out. Malik sighed and considered staying right where he was, but he knew Isis well enough to know that she would be back in the next ten minutes if he did. And this time she would probably have a bucket of water with her, ready to be dumped over his head. As much as he wanted to go back to sleep, he wasn't sure the extra ten minutes would be worth having to deal with soggy sheets.

The tantalizing smell of breakfast ultimately made his decision for him, and he rolled out of bed and grabbed for the closest pair of jeans. He yawned widely as he left his room and made his way down the stairs to the kitchen. Isis was standing at the counter, poking at something in the frying pan while she watched some kind of morning show. Malik looked at her for a moment before he glanced around the room, realizing suddenly that it looked nothing like the small apartment they had been staying in last night. For that matter, since when did their apartment have stairs?

"Hey, Nee-san," he said, scratching his head. "Did you and Nii-san decide that we needed to move in the middle of the night? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Isis turned around and stared at him. "_What_ did you call me?"

"Nee-san," Malik repeated slowly, giving her a weird look. Now that they were living in Egypt again, he, Rishid and Isis didn't usually speak much Japanese. Generally it was reserved strictly for those occasions when they needed to discuss something private in a public area. But this was the one habit Malik had never been able to break, if only because it allowed him to regularly acknowledge them both as his siblings. Isis had never minded before.

"Do I even want to know what that means?" Isis asked, rolling her eyes. "Or is it some stupid little nickname that you and your dumb friends came up with?"

"No, it means..." Malik trailed off, realizing that she was no longer listening. She'd gone back to the pan and pointedly turned up the volume on the small television that had been placed on the counter. He stood there for a moment longer, but when it became clear that she wasn't planning to pay any more attention to him he backed out of the room and left her to it.

That... had been weird. Isis had never acted like that towards him before. And why would she pretend that she didn't know what "Nee-san" meant? Malik frowned and went back up the stairs to his bedroom. That was weird, too. The room was much larger than the one he remembered having, and it had been fully decorated in a way that he liked. What's more, it had a lived-in, homey look that indicated someone had been using the room for way more than just a place to sleep. The really strange thing was that everything in the closet fit him perfectly, _and_ it was all to his taste. Even his jewelry was sitting out on the dresser, including several pieces he'd never seen before.

"Malik! Breakfast!" Isis shouted.

"Coming!" he called back, giving the closet one last frown. He turned and hurried back down the stairs, determined to figure out what was going on. But he didn't get the chance to ask.

Never, not once in his life (or at least not that he would be willing to admit to), had Malik wished that his yami would return. He'd told himself multiple times that he was perfectly happy living a peaceful life with his brother and sister, and he was even beginning to get to the point where he could believe it. But as he stood there in the entrance to the dining room and stared, speechless, at the man who was sitting at the head of the table, Malik would have traded anything to have had his yami back.

"Malik," Hafiz Ishtar said impatiently. "Don't just stand there. You heard your sister, breakfast is ready."

The last time Malik had heard the sound of that voice, he'd been splayed over an altar listening to it chant words in Ancient Egyptian while hands painstakingly carved symbols into his back. That had been right before he blacked out from the agony and Mariku had taken control and killed his father, putting an end to it. He lurched backwards, sweat breaking out across his forehead. He wasn't sure if he wanted to throw up or faint, but he was almost positive that at some point both of those options were going to become a reality.

Hafiz glanced up when Malik didn't sit down. Annoyance changed his face into a scarily familiar mask, and he set the newspaper down with a sharp snap that made Malik flinch. "I said _sit down_."

"Malik, do what your father says." Malik spun around, too fast, and nearly fell over. He'd seen the woman standing behind before, but only in pictures. Adara Ishtar frowned at her son and said, "Enough of your foolishness. I know you're impatient to go have fun with your friends, but I've told you before that breakfast is family time." She smiled sweetly at her husband. "Let's have a nice meal together, okay?"

* * *

**A/N:** Ok, obviously this story takes into consideration some events from season 0/the manga. Ryou liked to play this RPG called Monster World. After he got the Millennium Ring, people around him started to disappear. Bakura was turning them into dolls, twisting Ryou's wish to be able to play games with his friends forever. Those people were set free after Yami Yuugi and the others defeated Bakura at the game. Ryou's friends were never given names (that I know of) so I've taken the liberty of creating some.

Chouko = butterfly child  
Jirou = second son

For Malik's mom, very little is known about her. She was never given a name in either the anime or the manga (that I know of) so I picked one out for her.

Adara = exalted, praised

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** It thrills me to no end to know you guys are giving this a chance. I really hope it does all your wonderful reviews justice. Enjoy!

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As they got closer to the school, Yuugi started to see what Jou had been talking about. A lot of the students who went to Domino High lived close enough to walk instead of have to take the bus, and almost every single one of them was staring at Yuugi. Some of them were trying (and failing) to be subtle about it, but others were watching him outright. It made Yuugi uncomfortable. He'd been known as the King of Games long enough to get used to public attention, even intense scrutiny from the media, but this was completely different. There was no admiration in the way they looked at him, only condemnation. It was the way people used to look at him before he learned how to stand up for himself, but at the same time it was a lot worse.

He stopped walking about a block away from Domino High and allowed the current group of gawkers to pass by before he spoke. Jou had stopped as well, so he was standing close enough to hear when Yuugi said, "Everyone keeps staring at me."

"I know," Jou said, sounding a little awkward. "Just ignore them, Yuugi. If you act more normal, sooner or later something more interesting will happen to get their attention and you'll be yesterday's news." He gave Yuugi a gentle clap on the shoulder. "You know high school, man. You're only in the news if you do something worth getting there."

"And you think that I did," Yuugi said. He was curious to hear just what this so-called breakdown that he'd supposedly had entailed. As far as he remembered, yesterday had been perfectly normal. He'd gotten up and gone to school, spent lunch with Ryou and Jou since Anzu and Honda were busy, and then gone home to work in the game shop with his grandfather until supper. The only thing of note was the fact that he was pretty sure he was going to get a shit grade on his math test, but that hadn't even happened yet. There had been no breakdowns.

"Well, yeah. Yuugi, you flipped out in the middle of History. Don't you remember?"

Yuugi wasn't sure how to respond to that. If he said no, it probably wouldn't look very good. If he said yes, he wouldn't be getting many more details from Jou. And while he could just approach Honda, Anzu or Ryou for more information, he needed to know before they got to the school. He needed to know why everyone was looking at him like they were expecting him to freak out at any second. Fortunately, Jou seemed to take his silence as response because he continued.

"The teacher was talking about Ancient Egypt and what it used to be like back then. I wasn't really paying much attention, to be honest. Honda and I were passing notes back and forth. But that's what Anzu says she was talking about. Anyway, all of a sudden you slammed your hands down on the desk and started yelling that she was all wrong. When she told you to sit down, you _kicked_ the desk over and started ranting about a pharaoh and something called the Millennium Items, and how you couldn't believe she was teaching when she was such a dumb fuck." Jou had a tiny smile on his face. "Then you threw your book at her and stormed out. Nailed her in the shoulder, too."

Yuugi's mouth was literally hanging open. "And you witnessed this?" he said in complete disbelief, because he didn't remember this at all. He never spoke about the Millennium Items or Yami to anyone outside of his immediate circle of friends, and while they had moved on to Ancient Egypt in History he'd spent most of the class pretending to listen while trying not to think about the huge, empty space inside of him.

"I sit right behind you. Of course I saw it. I actually couldn't believe it was you for a minute there." Jou shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I think the teacher was too shocked to say anything, so I walked out and tried to find you."

"And then what?" Yuugi was almost afraid to ask.

"I didn't see this part, but I guess the principal caught you outside of class and read you the riot act from not having a hall pass. Then you called him a 'fucking useless waste of space' and said that you wished the pharaoh would come back and send him into the deepest depths of the Shadow Realm." The amusement was gone, replaced by an uncomfortable look. "People said it sounded like you were threatening to... well, you know, to kill him."

There were literally no words that Yuugi could use to respond to that. He just stood there and stared at his friend. He knew that Jou wouldn't lie to him, but this was... it was so ludicrous that it was actually making Yuugi's head hurt. "Jou," he said at last. "You know that I would never do _anything_ like that."

"But that's the thing, you did," Jou said. "I _saw_ you, Yuugi. I was there." He shuffled his feet. "And... honestly, man, you've been acting kind of weird lately. All you ever talk about is Egypt and the Millennium Items. I don't even know what those are, but it's like you honestly believe they're real. I know that you told me that when you were a kid you used to pretend the stories your grandfather told you were real, but we're not kids anymore. If you keep acting the way you have been, you're going to get into a lot of trouble."

"So wait." Yuugi reached out and grabbed his arm. He pretended not to notice the way Jou flinched back from him, just a little. "You actually don't remember the Millennium Items? The Shadow Realm? Battle City?" His stomach squeezed tighter with every shake of Jou's head. "Yami?"

"_Yami doesn't exist_," Jou said with the impatient air of someone who had repeated this several times already. "Yuugi, give it up already. I mean, what kind of name is that, anyway?" He snorted and shook his head. "Yami, honestly. Cruel name to give a kid."

Yuugi stared at him. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"What? Yuugi -"

He didn't wait to hear the rest of what Jou was going to say, just ducked into the nearest café and went straight to the bathroom where he threw up until there was nothing left in his stomach. He flushed the toilet and walked unsteadily to the sink, where he splashed cold water onto his heated face. There was no doubt in his mind that Jou was being completely serious. He didn't remember the things they'd been through, what they'd fought for. He had no idea who the pharaoh was. All Jou remembered were things that had never happened.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked his reflection. Predictably, he didn't get an answer. But he knew who to ask.

**RMA**

There was a lot more money in Ryou's wallet than he was expecting. He had no problem paying for a train ticket to Domino. As he accepted his ticket and moved aside to let the next person step up to the counter, he remembered that money had gotten a little tighter after his sudden move. His father hadn't been too impressed that his son had wanted to move for what he saw as no reason, and - while Ryou wouldn't accuse him of deliberately withholding funds - there had definitely been less money being deposited into his bank account afterwards.

The train wouldn't be leaving for another fifteen minutes, so he wandered over to one of the little cafés selling food and brought a sandwich for breakfast. They were also selling little cream puffs, and he couldn't resist purchasing one of those too. He sat down on a bench to eat his meal, deciding that he'd start with dessert. But no sooner had he unwrapped the creamy pastry then his cell phone rang. Ryou looked mournfully at his cream puff, but answered it anyway.

"Hello?" he said, realizing too late that Yuugi and the others wouldn't have this cell phone number yet. He'd changed his number after moving to Domino, because for a while he'd been getting some calls that bordered on threatening from people who still thought he had something to do with the disappearances. Sure enough, the voice that spoke was not one he really wanted to hear.

"Ryou-kun, where the hell are you?" Chouko demanded. "What is wrong with you today? You know that we have a presentation, as in, we have to _present_ what we've done. As in, you've got exactly ten minutes to get your ass to school or we're going to end up with a much lower grade than my parents will think is okay."

"Sorry, I'm not coming to school today," Ryou said.

"_What_? Why not?"

"I just have something to do." It wasn't the best excuse he could've come up with. He'd almost forgotten how nosy Chouko could be when she thought that he was hiding something, and she wouldn't give up until she knew exactly what it was. He had always thought it was cute before, but now that he'd learned several times over that discretion was the better part of valor... well, he wished he'd thought twice about picking up.

"Something? Like what?" she asked right away. "Ryou-kun, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Chouko-chan. I'm just busy."

"Is it your father?"

"No."

"You can tell me if it is, you know."

"It's not."

"Is it -"

"I really just have something important to do!" Ryou interrupted, his exasperation growing by leaps and bounds.

"You don't have to snap at me," she said, sounding hurt. "I'm just worried about you, that's all. You're acting really weird."

Ryou put a hand over his eyes and sighed. He'd also forgotten how good she was at making him feel guilty. But then again, maybe she had a point: he was not the same boy he'd been two years ago. Not even close. He felt like he didn't have the patience for this kind of casual interaction anymore. But he couldn't really put all of the blame for that on Chouko. It was different around Yuugi and the others: they knew better than to push too much. Experience had taught them all that sometimes it was better to back off.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, the words heavy with weariness. "I just have a lot on my mind right now. If you want to know the truth, I'm on my way to Domino City. One of my friends called me this morning and his grandfather is sick. Really sick."

"Oh," Chouko whispered. "I'm sorry." She paused, and Ryou knew the question was coming before she even asked. "I... didn't realize you knew anyone in Domino. I thought you told me that you hadn't visited much of Japan when you moved here."

"We met in London," Ryou said, because there was no point in trying to come up with anything even close to the truth. He stared up at the glass screen that displayed the information for the trains that were coming and going. The train to Domino was still on the time. He started to look away and then stopped, eyes drawn back. He could see the reflections of the people walking past in the glass, and it looked like a man was standing right behind him openly staring at him. A chill ran down his spine and he stiffened.

"That's really cool," Chouko was saying. "Well, I wish you would have told me but I understand why you didn't. If it wasn't a school day I could've gone with you. I hope your friend's grandfather is okay."

"Me too. Look, Chouko-chan, I have to go." He hung up without waiting for her to say good-bye and stood up very slowly. Casually he strolled down the platform, towards the gate where he knew his train would be. He tossed his food in the trash and kept an eye out as he walked, though he did his best to pretend that he was completely oblivious to his surroundings. The fact that his phone kept ringing, no doubt Chouko, didn't help. Finally he switched it off entirely and ducked around a corner.

About a minute later, a heavyset man in a suit hurried by and stopped. He looked around the crowded platform intently. Ryou slipped out from behind the corner and hurried in the opposite direction. His heart was pounding hard. There was no proof that the guy had been chasing him, but he had a very bad feeling about this and he'd learned to trust his instincts. And his instincts were telling him to get as far away as he could. He went all the way down to the end of the platform and circled around, arriving back at the gate just as his train pulled up.

He joined the crowd waiting to get on, standing beside a group of giggling girls. The hair on the back of his neck had risen, and just as he went to climb on he glanced over his shoulder. Not ten feet away, the same man was standing there staring directly at him. Their eyes met and the man smirked, lifting a hand to his neck and drawing it sharply across. The threat couldn't have been more clear, and Ryou was incredibly grateful for the door that promptly shut and the train that whisked him away.

**RMA**

Malik sat down at the table. What else could he do? He stared down at his empty plate and fisted trembling hands in his lap as Isis and Adara both carried the food in and then sat down. There was one more spot at the table, a glaringly empty chair that was right beside Isis. His sister reached out and draped her arm across the back of it. "This is the time when I miss Rishid the most," she remarked sadly.

"Now sweetheart, you know that your brother is having a wonderful time at university," Adara said, serving her husband and then son first. "This is his first time out on his own and he's doing really well."

"I know. I was just saying, it's hard."

Adara's smile was soft and sympathetic, but it was Hafiz who answered her. "You shouldn't be focusing on how much you miss him. You should be thinking about how he's finally doing something with himself instead of laying around being a useless waste of space. Like this one!" Hafiz jabbed a finger at Malik, who flinched. "You would do well to follow in your older brother's footsteps, Malik."

So apparently while Malik had been sleeping, he'd somehow traveled to a parallel dimension where his father was proud of Rishid, his mother was alive and his whole family was acting like they were normal. Good. Great. He lifted his head and looked around the table slowly, his eyes lingering on each person. Now that he was paying attention, he could see that Isis was dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. It was so unlike the outfits she traditionally wore that he couldn't believe it was her.

Hafiz was wearing an actual suit, modern clothing he was pretty sure had never graced his father's body before this moment, and his mother was wearing a sundress. His mother. Malik couldn't stop looking at her, taking in her face and the sound of her voice and the way she gently scolded his father for his comment. She had died when he was just a baby, one of the reasons that Hafiz had always hated him, and though Isis had stepped up and been as much of a mother to him as she could it wasn't the same.

This was his real mother: Adara Ishtar, a petite woman with skin the color of caramel and dark hair that had been twisted up into a knot because she was at home. Her eyes were the same shade of lavender as Malik's, and he could see the resemblance between them in a way that photos had never done justice. She smiled and laughed a lot, and she was acting like this breakfast with her family was the most goddamn important thing she'd do all day. It made his stomach hurt.

Eventually, though, she noticed that he wasn't eating. "Malik, eat your breakfast. It's going to get cold and I'm not warming it up for you."

He obediently lifted a forkful of whatever was on his plate to his mouth and ate without even tasting it. He set his fork back down and looked across the table at his sister. Weird as it was to see her dressed that way, it was stranger still to see her naked throat, bare of the Millennium Tawk. "Nee-san... what's going on?"

"Nee-san?" Hafiz repeated, mangling the pronunciation of the word horribly.

"It's some new nickname he's come up with," said Isis, rolling her eyes. "He won't tell me what it means, either."

"What have we told you about teasing your sister? Do you need to be -"

Malik didn't give his father the chance to finish that sentence. Whatever Hafiz was going to say, he didn't need to hear it. He couldn't bear to hear it. He leapt to his feet and ran out of the room. Instinctively, he turned out instead of up and burst through the front door. The sun hit him like a welcoming slap in the face and he gasped for breath, shaking all over as he jumped down the front steps and took off down the street. He could hear Hafiz yelling after him, and that was only incentive to keep going.

He only slowed down when his chest was so tight that he couldn't breathe and the cramp in his side made running impossible. He came to a stop and bent over, one hand pressed against his ribs. Even then he had a difficult time breathing, like there just wasn't enough air no matter how deep a breath he took. Black spots swarmed in front of his eyes and he gagged, spitting up bile all over the sidewalk. He ended up on his knees in the middle of everything, oblivious to the people walking by.

"What... the fuck... is going on?" he mumbled, pressing clammy hands against his face. He'd been joking earlier, thinking that he had woken up in a parallel universe, but now he was wondering if there was some grain of truth in that. He dug out his phone, thinking that there had always been one person who could set him straight, and scrolled through the list of contacts.

Right away he noticed a problem. Out of everyone he had met while in Japan, he guarded the phone numbers of Mutou Yuugi and Bakura Ryou with a protectiveness that amused Isis and made Rishid shake his head fondly. Malik never touched those contacts for fear that he might do something that would accidentally delete them. And now they were gone. He scrolled through the list about a dozen times, certain his eyes were playing tricks on him, but no luck. He had Isis's number, and Rishid's (both of which were different), and his mother's and father's, and several names he didn't know, but no Yuugi and no Ryou.

He finally called Rishid. There was no answer, but he left a message and felt slightly better for having done so. This just didn't make any sense, and he couldn't even call Yuugi or Ryou and find out what was going on. He picked himself up off the sidewalk and looked around. He had no idea where he was, no idea what was going on, and no idea what to do about it. The only thing he was sure of was that he didn't want to go back to the house, not while Hafiz was still there, so he started to walk.

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Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Recently I got a comment from someone complaining that I don't always answer reviews. And that's true, I don't. But it's not because I'm ignoring you, or because I don't read them. I love reviews and I appreciate every single one more than you know. It's because I'm busy. I spend a good percentage of what little free time I have writing, and a lot of the time it comes down to you can either get a response to your review or you can have a new chapter on Friday. I figured most of you would choose to have a new chapter. If you have something you_ really_ want to talk to me about, you can always PM me and I'll do my best to answer, but please don't take the lack of response to your review as an insult. I'll try to be better about responding, but it won't always be possible.

On that note, there will be no update on Friday, August 9th, because my parents are moving and I'll be out of town.

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Something weird was definitely going on. Yuugi only had a couple more minutes in the bathroom before Jou came looking for him, but it was long enough to whip his phone out and make an attempt at calling Ryou, Malik, Anzu, and then Seto. The first two numbers weren't in service. The third number was still Anzu's, but it went immediately to her voicemail and he knew that she had it turned off - weird, since all of them made it a point to keep their phones on at all times, a lesson never forgotten from the days when the fate of the world could change in less than a minute. The fourth number rang and rang, but no one picked up and it didn't go to a message. He wasn't sure whether it was still Kaiba Seto's or not.

"Yuugi, are you coming out?" Jou called, knocking on the door. "We're going to be late."

"Yeah, I'll be right there." He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He would go to school and speak to Anzu, Honda and Ryou in person. Perhaps they would be able to give him a little more insight. And if that still didn't work, he might have to hop a flight to Egypt and track down Isis Ishtar. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. He opened the door and forced a smile, hoping that it didn't look as fake as it felt. "Let's go."

Jou looked worried, but he just nodded and followed Yuugi back out onto the sidewalk. It was getting late now, so at least there weren't any other students around from Domino High to stare as they made their way towards the school. But that was alright, because as they got closer Yuugi discovered that he had a committee waiting for him. Standing out front of the gates was the principal, the assistant principal, and his teacher. All three of them looked up as he and Jou approached, and Yuugi wasn't warmed when he saw the collectives look of dismay and reproach on their faces. It took everything he had to keep walking forward instead of turning around and running away.

"I'm not having him here!" the teacher said shrilly when he was about ten feet away. "He threw a book at me and dislocated my shoulder." She reached up with her opposite arm and gently slid the jacket from her left shoulder. Yuugi's stomach sank when he saw that her arm was in a sling.

"Mutou-san, I'm afraid we can't allow you back into the school at this time," said the principal. He was a tall, thin man, and in any other situation it would have been comical to see the way he all but flinched away from Yuugi. "Until we can be sure that you're not a danger to the students and teachers -"

"So what, you're expelling me?" Yuugi squeaked, horrified. It had taken ages to get his schoolwork back up to an acceptable level after the pharaoh left. All that work was for nothing. He tried not to think about what his mother was going to say, but he knew it was going to involve a lot of shouting.

"We've discussed it amongst ourselves, and we are going to request a conference with your parents," the assistant principal said. "We have prepared a note for you to take home." He held it out like he was trying to keep his lower body as far away from Yuugi as possible, the way someone might try to feed a treat to an animal that they thought might attack. It was humiliating. Yuugi stared at the pristine white envelope and couldn't make himself reach out and take it.

He wanted to deny that he had ever done those things, but the words stuck in his throat. He was beginning to feel a little lightheaded. It was like he'd somehow entered a parallel dimension after falling asleep last night. And while he normally wouldn't have said that was possible, he'd long since learned that magic was the sort of thing that didn't really have barriers. Of course, even if that was what had happened it wasn't going to do him a damn bit of good right now. They were still planning to expel him. What would his mother say? His grandfather? What would happen to his chances of getting into a good college? His breath tightened in his chest and he ducked his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Yuugi?" Jou said. He reached out to touch Yuugi's shoulder.

"Don't," Yuugi said in a voice he hardly recognized, shrugging the comforting touch off. The world was beginning to get a little fuzzy around the edges, and it was as though he was seeing everything from a distance. He felt his body step sharply to the side, avoiding Jou's second attempt at grabbing his shoulder, and that was right about when he started to panic. Because he couldn't control what was happening.

"Mutou-san," the assistant principal said, and for the first time he sounded a little bit nervous. "Please take this letter and leave. We will contact the police to have you escorted from the premises if need be."

A harsh laugh escaped Yuugi's throat, sharp and barking. It sounded nothing like him. He tried to make a fist, or take a step backwards, or even just blink - but his body wouldn't respond. It was, he realized with fresh horror, all too similar to what it used to be like when Yami was in control and Yuugi was on the sidelines watching what was going on. Only it wasn't Yami, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't take control back. All he could do was watch.

"You think you can just expel me when all I've done is tried to tell you the truth? All of you are _idiots_," his body said harshly, flinging the words in the faces of the three teachers with obvious relish. "Seriously, I can't believe you're licensed to teach. I should open the Shadow Realm and give you a taste of what it _really_ means to learn a lesson."

"Yuugi!" Jou exclaimed, much more sharply this time.

"Shut up," his body snapped. A maniacal grin stretched over his face. "Pathetic little humans, not realizing the kind of power that you could wield if only you bothered to open your minds. It was right in front of you all those years, but you had no idea until I solved the Puzzle. Let me give you a little taste of what the pharaoh taught me..." His body stooped, grabbing a rock and lobbing it with expert precision straight into the face of the teacher. She screamed and clapped a hand to her forehead, blood gushing between her fingers. "We will rule you all in the end! You'll -"

What else was going to be said, Jou tackled him to the ground before it could come out. Yuugi felt the impact vividly in spite of the fact that he was a captive observer, and if he could have he would've closed his eyes and thanked Jou repeatedly for stopping him before whatever had possessed his body did anything worse. But he couldn't. His body spit and snarled and fought viciously against the hold, to the point where the principal had to help Jou hold him down, and he kept fighting even when the police showed up.

**RMA**

The train station wasn't that far away from Domino High. Ryou got off and went straight there, deciding to walk even though it took a little longer - he knew he had money in his wallet, but he wasn't sure how much there was in his bank account. He ended up timing it just right, because when he was about three blocks away from the school he heard the familiar sound of the bells ringing. A couple of minutes later he started seeing students wearing the Domino High uniform walking towards him.

It felt really strange to be wearing a t-shirt and jeans, knowing that he should have been wearing the same uniform. He tried to ignore the feeling that he was out of place as he walked onto the grounds. He used to spend most of his lunch periods in the classroom, but that had changed after he became friends with Yuugi and the others. Now most of their lunches were spent outside under a tree, just far enough away from the field that there was no risk of anyone getting hit by any balls. Most of the time it was just him, Yuugi, Jou, Anzu and Honda, but sometimes Otogi would drop by and join them so that he and Honda could make eyes at each other.

He headed that way automatically and was pleased to see that at least one thing in this strange new world hadn't changed. Anzu and Honda were sitting under the tree, though neither of them had made any move to take out their lunch. Yuugi and Jou weren't there, and Ryou got about ten feet away before he realized that there was something more to the fact that they were missing than he'd thought. Because Anzu looked like she was about two seconds away from crying.

"I just don't get it," she was saying in a quivery voice. She stopped and swallowed, but it didn't do much good. "I mean, it's Yuugi. They didn't really need to take him away. He would never do anything like that."

"Anzu, he threw a _rock_ at our teacher and hit her in the face," Honda said with the air of someone who had repeated this statement several times over. "I don't know what happened, maybe he snapped. But you've got to admit, he's been acting weird for the past few months and it's only getting worse."

Ryou's mouth dropped open and he stopped walking, astonished. Surely he couldn't have heard what he thought he had. He needed to hear more, but his sudden stop had caught Honda's attention. Right away, the small hope that had been niggling in the back of Ryou's head that his friends might, against all odds, remember him immediately died. There was no recognition on Honda's face; he looked at Ryou like they were total strangers. Because they were.

"I'm sorry," Anzu said, quickly bringing her hand up and swiping it across her eyes. She smiled at Ryou, but it was the polite smile she always wore around people she didn't know. "Can we help you? Are you lost? The office is that way, behind you to the right."

"No, I -" Ryou had to stop and swallow. He took a few steps closer, though not as close as he would have liked. "I'm not a new student here. I'm one of Yuugi's friends. He asked me to meet him here today at lunch, so when I saw you I thought.." He let his voice trail off and looked around like he hadn't just been listening to their conversation. "Is he not here?"

Anzu and Honda exchanged looks. "You're a friend of Yuugi's?" Anzu repeated. She sounded pretty doubtful. Ryou wasn't surprised by her suspicion, he'd been expecting it. He knew that Yuugi didn't have many friends outside of their group, not unless he counted people like Mai and Otogi and the Kaiba brothers - people who probably wouldn't even know who Mutou Yuugi was at the moment. Fortunately, he also knew that he had the perfect cover.

"We met a couple of years ago," he replied. "I came into his grandfather's shop one day while my family was in town visiting, and Yuugi told me all about Duel Monsters and how much fun it was. He kicked my ass when we dueled, of course." He let himself smile to cover the pang of hurt, knowing that he couldn't show them any cards as proof. He was only alright at dueling, but it still hurt knowing that his deck was lost to him. "I live in Tokyo, though, so we don't get the chance to see each other very often. My dad had to come to Domino for work and he let me come with him while my school is on break, that's all. Is Yuugi here? Do you know him?"

"I'm Mazaki Anzu, and this is Hiroto Honda. We're friends of Yuugi's, too," Anzu said, a little bit friendlier. Clearly she was buying his cover story, then. "What's your name?"

"Bakura Ryou."

Anzu's eyes widened. "Oh!" she said. "I've heard Yuugi mention you. I'm sorry, I didn't -" She broke off and flushed, and Ryou wondered how she would have finished that sentence.

"Is Yuugi here?" he asked for the third time, desperate for more information. He needed to see Yuugi, to talk to him and find out what was going on. He'd tried calling Yuugi's number a couple of times once he'd got to Domino, but there hadn't been an answer. He had to admit that he was past the point of being worried and headed into full on panic.

"Um," Anzu said, looking at Honda. "You probably won't be able to see Yuugi for a while, Bakura-san."

"Call me Ryou," Ryou said immediately, because [hearing someone say that name out loud in reference to him was kind of like being punched in the stomach. His knees felt weak and he sat down hard even though he hadn't been invited. "What happened? Was Yuugi in some sort of accident? Is his grandfather okay?"

"He's fine, but Yuugi lost it this morning," Honda said bluntly. "They locked him up in the psych ward."

"Honda!" Anzu hissed.

"What? It's the truth, Anzu."

"You don't know that! Those are just rumors."

"Oh come on. He's been acting weird for months, but now he's really gone off the deep end. He threw his book at a teacher yesterday and started ranting about how she knew nothing about history. He threatened the principal, too. And then this morning he hit the same teacher in the face with a rock and threatened them all over again. They had to call the police on him. Considering of all the weird things he's been going on about lately, where do you think he's going to end up?"

Ryou tried not to let his jaw drop. Hearing it for the second time made it no less shocking. "_Mutou Yuugi_ did that?"

Anzu winced. "We saw what happened in History yesterday, but not this morning. So we don't know what happened for sure," she said, shooting Honda a dirty look. "But Honda's right. One of our other friends called me and mentioned that Yuugi had been taken away in a police car this morning. He said that they were taking Yuugi to the hospital because he got a little scuffed up when they were restraining him." She looked pale, no doubt realizing that what she was saying was only giving credence to Honda's story. "But he didn't know what was going to happen. They were going to call Yuugi's mom and grandfather in."

"Fuck," Ryou muttered, giving in to the impulse to bury his face in his hands. He sat there in the darkness for several seconds, letting his mind race around in pointless circles that didn't go anywhere, trying to figure out what his next move was supposed to be. One thing stood out, though, and he straightened up to give Anzu a curious look. "You said that Yuugi has been saying weird things. What kinds of things?"

"I didn't really listen to most of it," she admitted, tucking her knees underneath her. "But I know he was talking about some... some dark realm?"

"The Shadow Realm?"

"Yeah, that's it! Did he mention it to you too?"

"Something like that." Ryou wasn't sure whether this was good news or not. On the one hand he had confirmation that Yuugi remembered at least something, if not everything. But on the other hand, it seemed that he was now in a lot of trouble because of it. "Did he ever talk about the Millennium Items?"

"All the time," Honda said. "And some pharaoh."

Anzu tilted her head. "You know, it's a shame that this pharaoh isn't real. From the way Yuugi talked about _him_, he sounded hot."

"You have got to be kidding me," said Honda.

"I'm just saying, he did." She shrugged as the bell rang, and then she looked at Ryou. "I'm sorry that you came all this way for nothing. Maybe Yuugi will be let off with just a warning and he'll be sent home. I'm going to go visit him if I can, either way. It might do him some good to know that his friends are still supporting him, especially now. You could come with me, if you want."

"I do," Ryou said quickly - maybe too quickly, judging by the way that Honda gave him an odd look. He ignored it, instead reaching out and scribbling his number across Anzu's notebook. "That's my number. Please call me as soon as you know."

"Sure. It was nice meeting you, Ryou-san, even if it was under these conditions." Anzu's smile was sad as she stood up and gathered her things. Honda just nodded as the two of them left the tree, heading back towards the school. Ryou twisted to watch them go, but he was too preoccupied to really pay attention.

Yuugi remembered everything, so did that mean there was a chance anyone else did? Malik, maybe, or Isis? He'd tried calling them too, but their numbers weren't in service. The thought of going to Egypt to try and track them down wasn't too appealing, but he might not have a choice. He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed before getting to his feet. First things first: he needed to find out what was going on with Yuugi, and that meant a visit to the Kame Game Shop.

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Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Enjoy!

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Malik had made his way to the airport and was contemplating whether or not he wanted to try hoping the next flight to Japan when his phone rang. Though he checked to see who was calling automatically, he had no intention of answering. His parents and Isis had been calling pretty much non-stop for the past two hours, along with several other people that he didn't know. Isis had already proven that she couldn't give him any answers and he had no desire to speak to his father - and that went triple for the strangers. He might have liked to have spoken with his mother at any other time, but not now. Not when everything was upside down.

But he found himself answering anyway, because the name on the screen was the one person he actually did want to talk to. "Nii-san," he said desperately, not waiting for Rishid to get a word in first. "Where are you?" And oh, he wanted to spill everything right then: how strange things were, how he'd woken up in a different world where nothing was how it should have been, but he held it back.

There was a split second pause, and then Rishid said, "I'm at school, Malik. Where are you?"

Right then, Malik knew that he'd been smart not to say anything. Because with just that sentence he knew that this Rishid wasn't _his_ Rishid. His stomach ached as he stopped walking and sat down on the nearest bench, slumping forward until he could cover his face with the hand not holding his phone. "I'm just out walking," he said quietly, because he knew better than to tell anyone where he was.

"I was talking to Isis, and then I got your message. You sounded very upset. Isis said she's been trying to get a hold of you, but you won't answer your phone for her. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just..." Malik let his hand drop and looked up, squinting in the bright light. He'd already checked out his jeans. Apparently some things never changed: his passport had been stuffed into his pocket, just in case they needed to make a quick exit out of the country. "When I woke up this morning, it felt like everything had changed."

Rishid was silent for what felt like a very long moment. "Did you have a strange dream last night?" he asked eventually. "Maybe you're just overtired. I know you've been working really hard at school and you probably feel like you need a break, but you should go back home, Malik. Isis was really worried about you. Whatever's bothering you, I'm sure that the two of you will be able to work it out. And if not, I'll be home on the next break. That's only six weeks away."

Six weeks was forever, but Malik didn't say that. If Rishid really was away at school, he didn't dare do anything that would bring his brother home early. He knew that Rishid had always dreamed about what it might be like to go to school, to be a normal kid amongst other equally normal kids. All of them had. But he'd never thought that they would have the chance to experience it. He wanted his brother to stay exactly where he was no matter much he desperately needed Rishid's calming presence.

"Malik?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking. No, you're right. You'll be home in no time, Nii-san."

"What's this new habit you've developed of calling me Nii-san?" Rishid asked with a warm laugh. "I told Isis what Nee-san means, by the way. She's determined to find out when and how you learned to speak Japanese, though right now I'm pretty sure she thinks you did it just to annoy her."

"I'd never do that," Malik lied, because yeah that totally sounded like something he would do and they both knew it. He rubbed his forehead and glanced around the airport, easily spotting the cash machine about thirty feet away. He was getting tired of talking to his brother, of having to watch what he said so that Rishid wouldn't get concerned. "Look, I'd better go if I'm going to get home anytime soon."

"Of course. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. You know that you can call me anytime, right? Even if I don't answer, just leave me a message or send me a text. I'll make sure I call you back."

"I know." Malik paused. "I'm really glad you're at school," he said quietly. "I know you've wanted to go there for a long time. I wouldn't want you to have to leave early for anything. I really want you to be there and - and do good, Rishid." Maybe, in this reality, Rishid could be someone that Hafiz was proud of. It was still a novel thought.

"I'm trying. Good-bye, Malik."

"Good-bye." He hung up the phone and looked at it for a moment. It was a top of the line model, just recently released, but it wasn't a Kaiba Corp model like the one he'd gotten after Kaiba Seto decided to branch out into other electronics. Maybe that was why he didn't feel bad about writing down a couple of phone numbers on a piece of paper and then smashing it. More than one person walking by looked at him weirdly for crushing his phone into an unrecognizable lump, but Malik didn't care. He knew enough about how a GPS worked to know that having it around, even turned off, was a bad idea.

That done, he swept the remains into a garbage bin and walked over to the cash machine. A flight to Japan was going to be fairly expensive, and when he checked his account he knew right away there was no way he could afford it. In the past he and Isis had always either traveled through her work or for free thanks to Kaiba Corp, but he doubted that was going to work out this time around. That meant he had to think of some other way to pay for a flight across half of the world.

It actually didn't take much thinking. He signed off, went outside and caught a cab back to his house. He had just enough cash to pay for it. As he'd expected, the house was dark because everyone else had left for the day - whether to search for him or for other reasons, he didn't know or care. He let himself in with the keys he found in his back pocket and closed the door, looking around. If Hafiz was anything like the man who had raised Malik, there had to be a credit card lying around somewhere. All he had to do was find it.

Maybe he should have felt guilty about his plan to use his father's credit card, but he didn't. The Hafiz he remembered had been a horrible, vile man who owed his children many things. Even if the Hafiz in this world wasn't nearly as awful, he still felt justified in doing this. He searched the kitchen and what was apparently his father's study carefully before he finally found one, tucked away inside of the desk in the study. It was a visa card, and he wasn't sure what the limit was but he hoped it would be high enough for at least one way ticket. He checked the signature on the back to make sure that he would still be able to forge it.

In retrospect, he probably should've been paying more attention to his surroundings. It was a hard lesson to learn after years of growing up beneath the surface, when no one had been able to sneak up on him because of the stone floors and walls that reflected every sound until it was impossible to miss. He was so involved in his examination that he didn't ever hear the footsteps coming up behind him. Needless to say, he jumped about a foot into the air when a hand came down hard on his shoulder.

"Malik, what are you _doing_?" Isis demanded at the same time, reaching out and grabbing his arm with her other hand. She stared at the credit card he was holding. Her eyes widened with incredulity. "Is that what I think it is? Are you seriously trying to take one of Dad's credit cards?"

Out of everything that had happened since he woke up that morning, hearing Isis call Hafiz "Dad" just about topped the list. Neither of them had ever referred to the man as anything other than "Father". At first it had been because of Hafiz's insistence, but later it was because it was literally impossible to see him as a dad. Dads were the kind of men who played and joked around with their kids, who never lifted an unnecessary hand to them, who did whatever it took to make their kid's dreams come true. Hafiz was not a dad.

His throat tightened. "It's none of your business," he said.

"Considering that you're attempting fraud, I think it is. Give me that!" She reached for the card and he recoiled, deliberately holding it out of her reach. There was no way he was giving it up. He needed this card to get to Japan.

"No! Go away!" he said, blocking her attempts. "I just need to borrow it for a little while. He won't even notice that it's gone, I bet."

"That's not the point, Malik."

"It is to me." He twisted with his body and moved past her smoothly, a move he'd perfected a long time ago that usually made Isis roll her eyes or laugh. Now she just looked confused. He tucked the card securely into the pocket of his jeans. "I don't know what's happened, Nee-san, but I need this car to figure it out."

"Nothing has happened. You just woke up and started acting crazy," Isis said. "Did you talk to Rishid? He said he was going to talk some sense into you. Let me get him on the phone." She started to take her phone out of her pocket.

"Don't bother," Malik said. "I already talked to him." And he didn't want to talk to Rishid again. He turned to go and wasn't all that surprised when Isis leapt forward and grabbed his arm again. She wrenched him around almost violently, her grip tight enough that his flesh felt hot and swollen where her fingers were digging in. They were face to face and Isis was breathing so hard she was practically panting.

"What's going on with you?" she asked, staring hard at him.

"You wouldn't understand," he replied. "Isis, let_ go_ of me." When she failed to release him, he jerked his arm hard enough to get free. He backed away, watching her warily to make sure that she didn't try to get a hold of him again. Surprisingly, she didn't. She just stood there staring at him with a look of confusion that bordered on hurt. It made his chest ache.

Because he wanted so badly to explain things to her. Isis was his sister, one of the only family members he had left, and he'd never thought that anything would come between them. But he knew that if he tried to explain, she would only conclude that he really had lost his mind. Even worse, she might start trying to call their parents and Rishid. It was bad enough that she'd seen him taking the credit card, he really didn't need anyone else getting involved. As it was, he was going to have to do something to make sure she didn't interfere further.

He turned around abruptly and left the room, knowing that, if for nothing more than because she was curious, she would follow. By the time she caught up to him in the living room, he already knew what he was going to do. He'd noticed the little closet next to the front door, filled with shoes and a few light coats and wraps. Quickly, as Isis entered the room and started to draw in breath to yell at him some more, he snatched her phone out of her hand and pushed her into the closet. He slammed the door and, after a quick glance around, jammed a chair from the dining room table under the knob.

"Malik!" she screamed, pounding on the door. "You let me out right now!"

"I can't," Malik said, backing away. He knew that she probably wouldn't be in there long. Hopefully just long enough for him to get back to the airport and get on a plane. But that didn't stop him from feeling immensely guilty. Even though he knew she wouldn't hear it over the racket she was making, he whispered a quiet apology as he left the house.

He took a cab back to the airport, not wanting to waste time, and paid with the credit card. Then he went straight inside to speak to an agent. It took a bit of working out before she was able to get him a flight. Because he wanted to leave immediately, it meant he'd be spending a lot more time on the airplane and hanging around airports than if he'd waited for a later flight. She asked him repeatedly if he wouldn't rather wait and looked at him oddly for not having any luggage. Malik tried to ignore her stare and answered her questions evasively, hoping his racing heart didn't show.

"Alright," the agent said at last, sliding a little booklet across the table. It was a lot fuller than the last one he'd gotten. "Your flight leaves in exactly thirty minutes, Mr. Ishtar. I advise you to take extra care each time you land, because you won't have much time." She studied him for a moment. She hadn't even wanted to sell him the ticket. But Malik's passport contained a special insignia that meant he was old enough to fly alone. She said, "Are you certain that you don't have any luggage to take with you? You do get one free suitcase and one carry-on, up to a maximum of -"

"No, I'm good," he said before she could go back into her spiel, picking up the booklet. The weight felt good in his hand. It meant freedom, meant he was one step closer to figuring out what the hell was going on. His only regret was that the ticket agent would be able to describe him if anyone came looking, but there was nothing to be done for that. His only saving grace was that the ticket ended in Tokyo, not Domino. He'd have to figure out a way to get from one city to the other, but at least no one would be able to connect him with Domino. That might give him a little bit of extra time in the event that anyone did follow.

"Then I hope you have a good flight, sir, and thank you for traveling with -"

He turned away before she could finish, striding quickly across the floor towards the gate. He wouldn't be boarding for another twenty-eight minutes, but he could wait there just as well as anywhere else - maybe they would allow him to get on early since he was alone with no bags. The ticket fee had been astronomical, and he spent a couple of minutes wishing that he could be there when Hafiz found out what he'd done. He tapped his ticket idly against his thigh, staring out the window at the planes that were coming and going. He wondered if Isis had gotten out of the room yet, or if she was still trapped in there. It made him nervous, thinking that his mother or father might be on their way to the airport already to stop him.

He didn't fully relax until he was safely on the plane. It was mostly full with only a scattered handful of empty seats, and he noticed that the vast majority of people were business men and women who didn't look like they were too interested in a kid. That suited Malik just fine. He found his seat, sat down and put his belt on. The last of his anxiety faded away as the plane's wheels left the ground and they became airborne. He'd done it, this part of the matter anyway, and now all he had to worry about was the possibility of being stopped somewhere along the line. But he thought - hoped - that was unlikely. If this Hafiz was anything like the one Malik knew, he wouldn't want to involve other people in the matter. He'd much prefer to track his errant son down himself, no matter what the cost.

"For once, having an obsessive old man might actually work in my favor," he muttered, eyeing the sign for the seatbelts. Once it clicked off, he unbuckled and stood up to make his way back to the toilet. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it for a moment, closing his eyes briefly.

This was hard, and stressful, and everything he'd thought he would never have to handle again. And it was made even worse by the fact that he couldn't even depend on his sister and brother to help make things right again. For a moment, a familiar prickling behind his eyes made him think he was going to cry. It was only by sheer force of will that he kept himself from doing so. Now wasn't the time to have a break-down; he needed to be strong and keep his mind clear.

"I can do this," he muttered, glancing into the mirror as he ran water into the little sink. He was going to splash some water onto his face, but something made him pause. His reflection looked oddly different, there was something he couldn't put his finger on. It took nearly a full minute for him to figure it out.

His reflection's eyes were grey-purple shadows.

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Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Enjoy!

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Jou's head was beginning to hurt, and it wasn't because their teacher was going into far more detail than she really needed to about some complicated mathematical theory. He wasn't even paying attention to her. He was busy staring out the window and thinking about his best friend. It had been a couple of days since he'd last gotten the chance to talk to Yuugi; Sugoroku had explained that Yuugi had been committed to the hospital and would remain there under observation until it could be proved that he wasn't a danger to himself or anyone else around him. Until that time, no one would be permitted to see him. Not even family. And as much as it was wearing on Jou, he knew it was even worse for Sugoroku.

If only he could figure out why Yuugi had lost it so suddenly! This wasn't at all like the friend that Jou knew. He and Yuugi had become friends after Jou had crossed the school bully, Ushio, the wrong way. Yuugi had stepped in to protect him, much to Jou's surprise, and Ushio had demanded payment in return. When Yuugi couldn't come up with the money, he'd been given a thrashing that nearly landed him in the hospital. Actually, they both had because Jou couldn't bring himself to leave Yuugi to that fate alone. It turned out that being beaten to within an inch of your life had the tendency to form strong friendships, and after both of them had recovered they'd started hanging out together.

Along the way, first Anzu and then Honda had joined them until they were a little group. It was the first time in Jou's life that he could remember having friends and he liked it. No, he loved it. Having people that he could depend on was a novel experience, particularly since the only other person in his life that fell under that category was pretty much lost permanently to him. After Shizuka lost her eyesight for good, his mother had decided that Jou didn't need to visit her anymore. He hadn't seen his little sister in almost two years.

The thought of losing Yuugi in the same way was unbearable. But he didn't know what to do to change things or fix this. If he hadn't been right there, witnessing everything that happened, he would have thought that there was no way Yuugi could've done all those things. Throwing stones, threatening people - where had his peaceful friend gone? The boy that wouldn't do anything against a bully because he didn't believe in violence? People were saying Yuugi had snapped. Jou had to admit that there seemed to be some truth to it.

He rested his chin on his hand and sighed. There was more to the problem than just Yuugi if he was being honest. For the last week or so, he'd been having some weird dreams at night. He had the feeling that he wasn't remembering everything when he woke up, because a lot of the stuff didn't make sense. Last night, he'd dreamt about a boy with white hair and brown eyes who was alternately very nice or very cruel. The night before that, he'd dreamt about a world of shadows. It was... puzzling. Was Yuugi's brand of craziness spreading, or was he just thinking a little too hard about everything?

"Jou? Hey, Jou! Wake up, class is over." A hand came down onto his shoulder and Jou jumped. His hand hit one of his books and sent it to the floor with a loud crash. Fortunately, the rest of the room was already empty. Even the teacher was gone. Anzu just raised an eyebrow at him, while Honda rolled his eyes and reached down to pick up the book.

"Sorry," Jou said sheepishly, rising to his feet. He'd been so preoccupied with thinking that he hadn't even noticed the bell ringing and everyone departing. It was probably the first time ever that he was one of the last people to leave the classroom.

"It's okay. You've had a lot on your mind," Anzu said softly. She fiddled with her skirt. "Have you... I mean, you haven't been able to talk to Yuugi yet... right?"

Jou shook his head, wincing as Anzu's face crumbled. "No. I went over to the shop before school this morning and there's still no update. It looks like it's going to be a while before they let anyone in to see him." He stood up, accepting his books from Honda with a grateful nod, and started to lead the way out of the classroom.

"At this rate, Yuugi's going to flunk out of school," Anzu said worriedly.

"I think that's probably the least of his problems right now," Honda pointed out. "I mean, even if he did get released the chances of him being allowed to come back to school are slim to none. Not after the way he acted."

"Don't talk like that, Honda."

"It's the truth, Anzu, no matter how much you might not want to face it. Yuugi really screwed up. I heard some students saying that a couple of the teachers he threatened are going to quit if he's allowed to come back. I don't think the school has the funding to risk that." Honda stuck his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "Maybe he'll be able to get home schooling or something like that if he can prove he hasn't gone off the deep end."

Anzu glared at him. "Yuugi is not crazy. He's just... having a rough couple of days, that's all."

"A rough couple of days? Seriously?"

"Who's that?" Jou asked before Anzu could respond with a scathing comment. He'd led his friends outside without really thinking about it, feeling like he was at a bit of a loss without Yuugi. Normally they would be making plans for the afternoon. It wasn't like those plans would be entirely dependent on Yuugi, but. Even if Anzu and Honda had other things to do, Yuugi always had time to spend with him.

"Who?" Distracted from the brewing fight, Anzu turned to look in the direction that Jou was pointing in. "Don't point, Jou, it's rude."

"Then who is he?" Jou demanded, but he let his arm drop because technically she was right. "The white-haired kid standing over there by the gate. Who is that?"

"Oh, that's Ryou. He's one of Yuugi's friends," Anzu said. "He showed up a couple of days ago. I guess he'd made plans to visit with Yuugi, but..." She shrugged. "Poor timing on his part, I guess. I hung out with him yesterday after school when we couldn't go see Yuugi. He's pretty cool. Really curious. Kept asking all kinds of questions about how we'd met Yuugi. Why?"

Jou didn't answer her. It wasn't that he couldn't, but more like he didn't want to. The explanation made no sense to him, and he couldn't imagine try to tell Anzu and Honda. Something about the boy was uncomfortably familiar, and it only took him a couple of seconds to place Ryou as the one he'd dreamt about: the boy who could from being kind and friendly to harsh and cruel in the blink of an eye. But Jou couldn't figure out why he would have been having dreams about him. He'd never met or seen or even heard about Ryou before now... had he?

"I want to meet him," he said abruptly.

Anzu shot him a weird look, but shrugged. "Okay, sure. We were supposed to go out for burgers. I guess you guys can come with us if you want."

"You were going to hang out with him for a second day in a row?" Honda asked.

"So what if I was?" Anzu said defensively, but there was no mistaking the very slight blush that swept across her cheeks. "Ryou's really cool. And he's super worried about Yuugi. He doesn't know anyone else in town, so I'm just trying to keep him company until we find out what's going on. There's nothing wrong with that. I think Yuugi would want us to be nice to his friend."

"Right," Jou said, exchanging a look with Honda. He wondered if there was more to it than Anzu was letting on. She'd never really expressed an interest in anyone before, even though Yuugi had been desperately in love with her for a while. If she was aware of Yuugi's feelings, she pretended that she was oblivious and Yuugi had never had the courage to bring it up. The idea that someone else might've come along and gotten between them when Yuugi wasn't around bothered him.

Ryou straightened up and smiled at them as they approached, but whatever Jou was planning to say died when he got a good look at Ryou's face. Not only did he have a black eye and a split lip, livid purple bruising ran down one side of his face, spanning from his hairline all the way down under his jaw. More bruises could be seen on his arms, and there was no doubt in Jou's mind that if Ryou took his shirt off they'd see even more on his chest and back. Anzu gasped out loud when she saw him.

"Oh my god, what happened?" she exclaimed.

"I, ah, met some people who didn't agree with me," Ryou said softly, bringing one hand up to not quite touch the side of the his face. When he turned his head just a little, it was easy to see how swollen his cheek was. It looked painful, and in spite of himself Jou felt a surge of protectiveness.

"Who were they?" he demanded.

Ryou looked both surprised and confused by the question. "I'm not sure, to be honest. Ever since I arrived in the city there seems to be a couple of men who have been following me around. Last night on my way back to my hotel room, one of them jumped me. Fortunately some people heard me shouting and ran to help me. Otherwise I'm not sure what would have happened."

"That's disgusting," Anzu said hotly, gently taking hold of Ryou's chin and tipping his head back so that she could better see the damage that had been done. "God, you're lucky they didn't do something worse. Do you know who they are? Did you tell the police?"

"To be honest, Anzu-san, I don't think they could help me." He stepped back, putting just enough distance between them that she couldn't reach for him again, and Jou didn't think there was any mistaking the fleeting look of disappointment that flashed across Anzu's face. Ryou added, "Besides, like I said I don't know who these guys are. They just sort of... appeared."

"Really," Jou said skeptically, not even bothering to try and hide it. It wasn't very often that innocent people were followed around and jumped. Even when it used to happen to him he always knew that there was a reason behind it. He couldn't help wondering if Ryou had pissed someone off and was keeping quiet about it. Maybe it wasn't safe for Anzu to be hanging out with this guy after all.

Anzu shot him a look. "Are you still up for going to get burgers? I understand if you aren't."

"No, I'd like it if we did." Ryou offered them a tentative smile before wincing and pressing his fingers against his lower lip. Fresh blood beaded up around his fingertips and his tongue shot out, automatically sweeping over the wound: the pressure was enough to make him wince again.

Jou rolled his eyes. Okay, there was something about the kid that was truly pathetic in a meek, bunny rabbit sort of way. If he really was innocent, it maybe it wasn't all that hard to see why he'd been jumped after all: he just looked like easy prey. It was nearly impossible to see him as the cruel boy Jou remembered seeing in his dreams. Maybe he was wrong and Ryou really was just another friend of Yuugi's that didn't get mentioned often. But just in case, Jou resolved to keep a close eye on him.

**RMA**

Yuugi's head hurt. Actually, scratch that: _everything_ hurt, from the tips of his toes to his eyelashes. He leaned back against the white wall and listlessly surveyed the room. After being at the hospital for a couple of days - he'd sort of lost track of time for a while there, so he wasn't completely sure how much time had passed - the doctors had decided that it would be okay for him to associate with some of the other patients. So he'd been let out into what they called the common room after a dire warning about how easy it would be for him to lose the privilege if he acted out in any way.

There was really no chance of that. The cocktail of drugs that they had been forcing down his throat at every available opportunity just made him feel weak. Getting up at and walking the relatively short distance to the common room had taken most of his strength, and now he didn't feel like doing anything else. Even the video game console that a couple of other people were huddled around held no interest. Had it been Duel Monsters they were playing, that would've been different; his fingers itched with the desire to handle his cards.

But one of the doctors had decided that duel monsters was 'part of his unhealthy obsession' and his cards had been taken away from him when he was admitted. Yuugi closed his eyes and wrapped his hands around his stomach, hoping that they were safe. Ever since learning that his cards had a physical tie to their shadow realm counterparts, he'd taken even more care with them than before. Hopefully they'd been returned to his grandfather for safe keeping and weren't stashed away in a drawer somewhere.

He sighed again and lazily opened his eyes. To his surprise, a lot of the people in here were kids just like him. Some of them appeared to have legitimate mental issues, but there were others who didn't seem to have anything wrong with them. His therapist had already encouraged him to try making friends. She hadn't been pleased to hear that Yuugi had no interest in doing so. He liked being friendly with people, but it was too hard to be close to anyone who hadn't been there.

Then again, his closest friends didn't even remember being there. So maybe that didn't matter so much after all.

Carefully, he pushed himself off of the wall and took a slightly unsteady step forward. One of the interns monitoring the room looked up at him, but he ignored her and kept shuffling until he could reach the nearest chair. It felt good to sit and rest his aching muscles. He wasn't sure what was in the pills they kept giving him, but they made his muscles throb. It was nearly impossible to sleep at night from the pain, though admittedly the fact that the lights were never turned off didn't help.

He was tired of being here, tired of listening to people try to diagnose his "problem". The only problem that Yuugi had was that apparently the rest of the world had gone insane while he was sleeping. But of course, no one believed him about that. There were some technical terms being tossed around that he really did _not _want to be labeled with. He had no explanation for what had happened outside of the school, but he hadn't felt anything similar since then. That didn't mean whatever had possessed him was gone, though.

"Yami, I miss you," he whispered to himself, blinking against the urge to cry. That was the other part of what he loathed about the drugs; they were pushing his emotional responses all out of whack and he constantly felt like he was on the verge of laughter or tears. There was nothing "healthy" about wanting to cry all the time no matter what his therapist said.

"Sorry, were you talking to me?" One of the girls sitting in front of the television had turned around. Yuugi stared at her and started to shake his head. He stopped when he heard the doors opening.

Of course, only the staff had keys to this area of the hospital. The common room doors were locked at all times and any patient wanting to leave had to be escorted by a staff member. Yuugi turned, along with most of the room, to see what was happening. A doctor he didn't recognize stepped just inside and then turned, putting a hand on the shoulder of the patient he was bringing into the room. The boy was clad in the same white pants and shirt as Yuugi, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

"Oh my god," Yuugi said under his breath, sitting up straight. This was the last person he had been expecting to see in the hospital, much less _here_, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why Kaiba Seto had just walked in.

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Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** There won't be an update next week, Friday the 6th, because I'm starting a new job and will be too exhausted. Just a heads up!

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At least one thing was still the same. Malik looked around as the train glided into Domino City and finally felt like he might be able to relax a little. It had been ages since he'd visited the place, and really the last time he'd been there Battle City had just been ending. Duelists from all over the world had swarmed the town, causing an upsurge in game shops and restaurants. This version of Domino City clearly hadn't seen that much patronage in quite a while. He turned his gaze away from one area in particular that he remembered from Battle City, reminding himself that in this world there had never been a cause for that event. In this world, Duel Monsters was a passing fad that had probably ended some time ago.

It was really strange to think that a game which had dominated his world wasn't all that popular in this one. But at least it meant he didn't need to be worried about being recognized by anyone. He stood up when the train stopped and disembarked after the rest of the passengers. The sunlight was warm on his hair and shoulders when he left the station, and he paused for a moment to bask in it. The plane trip had been extremely long and very tiring. Always worried that Hafiz might have caught up to him, he'd hardly dared to close his eyes long enough to sleep or pause long enough to eat. Exhaustion tugged at his mind and hunger made his stomach ache, but it was worth it. He was close to getting some answers at long last.

He tucked his hands into his pockets and started to walk, heading towards downtown Domino. There was one place that he could go where he knew that Yuugi, at least, could be found eventually, and even though he'd never been there it wasn't that hard to find. The Kame Game Shop was located at the end of a busy street, and the shop was bustling with teenagers already. Malik entered without attracting any notice and looked around, hoping to see Yuugi. He was disappointed when a thorough examination of the crowd failed to yield any petite teenagers with impossible to miss hair.

"Figures I'd come by at the one time he's not here," he muttered, crossing his arms uncomfortably. The old man behind the cash register certainly bore a strong resemblance to Yuugi, and Malik recalled meeting him briefly. He'd been there when the pharaoh went into the afterlife. At least he knew he was definitely in the right place. He waited until most of the crowd had left before he stepped up to the counter.

"Good afternoon, welcome to the Kame Game Shop. How may I help you?" the old man asked with a bright, if slightly fatigued, smile.

"I'm looking for Mutou Yuugi," Malik replied, grateful that whatever had happened to the world had not affected his ability to speak fluent Japanese. "I need to speak with him."

The old man's smile abruptly died. "I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment."

"What? Why not?" Against his will, Malik could feel a little bit of the desperation he'd been bottling up for the past couple of days leeching across his face. Yuugi was one of the few people who might have an idea about what was going on, and being so close only to hear that Malik couldn't see him was maddening.

"He's in the hospital with an illness and the doctors say he shouldn't be accepting visitors."

Malik stared at him, slightly horrified. His first thought was to wonder whether Yuugi had gotten sick from the world changing, and if so was there a chance it could affect him as well? "So we can't talk to him at all?" he pressed. "Not even on the phone? Could I write him a note and have you deliver it, maybe?"

"I'm sorry. If you leave me your name, I'll pass it on. But that's really all I can do."

"It's Malik," Malik said after a lengthy pause, studying the old man's face. His initial bout of fear had passed, and now that he was able to examine the situation with a clearer mind he realized there was something strange going on. The old man wasn't meeting his eyes when he talked about Yuugi; he kept glancing down and fiddling with the register. He was lying about _something_. Malik just wasn't sure what.

The door behind them swung open and a whole new group of kids spilled into the room. The old man turned away from Malik immediately and started greeting them. Malik sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to be able to discern anything else, and reluctantly departed. He stood outside on the street for a moment, thinking. His visit to the game shop hadn't yielded nearly as much information as he was hoping for. Sure, he knew that Yuugi was in the hospital, but short of breaking in to visit he didn't see how that helped.

He tried to remember what else he knew about Yuugi and Ryou and what they liked to do in their spare time. It was hard. He hadn't actually spent much time with either of them. But after a couple of minutes, he thought he recalled Yuugi talking about some restaurant he and his friends loved to visit. The exact name of the place escaped him, but supposedly it wasn't that far away from Domino High School. He decided to start walking in that direction and see if he recognized anything familiar.

Downtown Domino was bustling with people. Malik tried to keep his distance from the crowds, but that was easier said than done. It didn't help that he kept seeing flickering shadows at the edges of his visions, as though something - or someone - was just waiting for the opportunity to sneak up on him. But whenever he turned his head, there was nothing there. He crossed his arms uneasily and picked up the pace. Being in public had never made him feel safe; there were too many people who had no idea what was really going on with the world, and they couldn't put a stop to something if they didn't know it was happening.

His pace gradually increased until he was running, his feet pounding the pavement as he darted in and out amongst the crowd. He felt cold in spite of how much energy he was exerting, and the shadows seemed to be gaining on him. He ran until the familiar stitch in his side forced him to slow down, and even then he only dropped to a fast walk. He didn't know where he was going, and he might have just kept walking until exhaustion forced him to stop had he not spotted the high school in distance and _Burger World_ just down the street.

Unsteadily, legs feeling weak, he made his way towards the restaurant. It was swarming with teenagers and he paused when he pushed the door open, wondering if this was a wise decision. His eyes swept across the arcade and tables, searching for anything that was familiar. When he spotted the shock of white hair, he wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Disbelieving but hopeful, he allowed his legs to carry him closer until he could see who was sitting at the table.

It was Ryou, albeit a much more beat up version than Malik remembered. He was picking through a pile of fries and listening to Jou and Honda bicker with each other. Anzu was there too, but she wasn't participating in the conversation: she was too busy staring at Ryou with a dreamy look that had once been reserved for the pharaoh. Malik staggered a little closer, his heart suddenly beating so furiously that he felt dizzy. Going to these four had been a last resort. He didn't know what he would do if none of them had any idea who he was. Concede that he was insane, maybe, and return home? Or, more likely, run away to start a new life elsewhere because he couldn't bear the thought of returning to Egypt, insane or not. The thought made him snort.

Ryou and Anzu both glanced up at the sound, as though just realizing that he was practically hovering over their table. There was no recognition on Anzu's face when she looked at him, but Ryou... His eyes grew and his mouth dropped open. "Malik!" he cried, jumping to his feet. Or at least, that seemed to be his intention, but he straightened too quickly and ended up doubling over with a groan of pain. His hands cupped his midsection protectively as he sat back down, winded.

"Who?" Jou asked, looking around in bewilderment. He stared at Malik with a frown, but it was not the suspicious look he usually reserved for him and Malik had to conclude that Jou, Honda and Anzu didn't know who he was. Not that they really mattered. The most important person at the table, as far as Malik was concerned, clearly knew who he was. The wave of relief that flooded through him was overwhelming.

"Oh my god!" Anzu yelped, but the sound of her voice was so distant that it was like she was speaking from far away. Malik blinked and realized that somehow he had ended up on his knees. Anzu was crouching in front of him, her delicate hands bracing his shoulders to keep him from collapsing forward. Appalled and confused, he lurched backwards. She took her hands off of him quickly, but there was no hiding the brief look of hurt that flashed across her face.

"Malik," Ryou said again, and he turned his head to see that Ryou had recovered and was now kneeling on the floor beside him. The expression on his face was so serious, so _hopeful_ - it would've broken a lesser man's heart as Ryou leaned forward. "Do you... know who I am?"

"Ryou," Malik said, tasting the familiar word as his lips formed the syllables. It was not what he normally would have done, but he could not stop himself from slumping forward. His face landed in Ryou's lap, cheek rubbing harshly against the material of Ryou's jeans. He felt a startled hand come to rest on the back of his head just as he finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

**RMA**

If it was possible, Kaiba Seto looked the same but had also changed. The basic details remained just as Yuugi remembered: Seto still had medium brown hair and deep blue eyes. He was still tall and still held himself with that sense of confidence that had thoroughly cowed more than one man. But he was also extremely pale, sickly so, and as he stepped into the room he scanned it in a way that practically screamed of distrust. The Seto Yuugi knew had never been so obvious. And perhaps most puzzling of all, this Seto was notably without a laptop or duel disk in his possession. It was bizarre.

He watched, along with most of the other patients and interns, as the doctor turned to face Seto and said, "Now remember, Kaiba-san, you've been granted permission to visit the common room for two hours. If you do well today, we'll see about getting you regular access. Remember, you are the only one responsible for your actions and you must accept the consequences for how you choose to act."

It was something Yuugi had already been told repeatedly, and judging by how Seto rolled his eyes in response he wasn't the only one tired of hearing it. The doctor didn't seem to care, though. He just turned and walked back through the doors. They shut with the resounding _click_ of the electronic door lock kicking in. Seto folded his arms and leaned against the wall, not making any attempt to interact with anyone. After a couple of minutes, everyone else gradually lost interest.

But not Yuugi. He continued to watch Seto, eyes narrowed, trying to discern why Seto was even there. Clearly something had gone wrong, but what? He contemplated everything he knew about the billionaire and came to the distressing realization that, in this world, Yami had never destroyed the evil in Seto. So had the evil driven Seto insane? Or, considering what he had learned about the notorious Big 5 and the lengths they would go to make sure their plans succeeded, was this a plan to make sure that Seto lost control over Kaiba Corp?

Either way, he was going to have to find out and it would not be easy. With a resigned sigh, he hefted himself up and waited until the room stopped spinning. Only once he felt confident that he wasn't going to fall over did he begin a slow walk over to where the CEO of Kaiba Corp was standing. If Seto noticed that he was approaching, he gave no indication. Yuugi made it to the wall, which he leaned gratefully against, and just stood there for a moment. He wasn't sure how to start this conversation. Seto had never been overly friendly even before he'd sort of become their friend, and if he didn't remember who Yuugi was that was going to make things a lot more complicated.

Finally, he decided to just come right out and ask. "So are you here because there's actually a legitimate reason for you to be here? Or are you here because this is another ploy from the Big 5 to try and take over your company?"

Seto was notoriously good at hiding his emotions, but not even he could conceal the instinctive flinch that Yuugi's careful questions provoked. A few seconds later, Yuugi found himself being closely analyzed by a set of icy blue eyes that seemed to be able to stare into the depths of his soul. Once upon a time, a stare that strong would've made him turn away and hide. But he had been through too much to take the coward's way out now, and he knew that his soul was nothing to be ashamed of. Boldly, he met Seto's gaze and returned it, and after a moment the stare became less threatening and more analyzing. He didn't know what Seto was looking for, but eventually he was the one who turned away.

"It's none of your business," he replied at last, the words spoken too quietly for anyone else to be able to hear.

"A little of both, then," Yuugi decided. If it had been just the former, Seto would've ignored him. But if it had been solely the latter, Seto would've bristled at the implication that anyone could take Kaiba Corp away from him. Because he'd been taken off guard, he'd revealed far more than he'd wanted to with his answer. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wondering what other complications had arisen in a world where Yami did not exist.

"I'm not insane," Seto hissed.

"I didn't say you were," Yuugi said, lips crooking into a smile in spite of himself. "Though it's really nothing to be ashamed of. When you think about it, after everything we've been through, gods know it would be impossible to be totally sane."

Seto cocked his head slightly. "You'd best not let them hear you say that, Mutou."

"Ah, so you do know who I am." He had to hide his surprise at that. He'd thought for sure that Seto wouldn't recognize him.

"You've been in my class for the past year," Seto said, glancing around the room with some distaste. Noticing that a couple of the interns were watching him and Yuugi, he glared pointedly until they grew nervous and returned their attention to whatever they had been doing before. Only then did he add, "What I don't know is why you're standing here talking to me when I have no interest in speaking to anyone."

"Maybe it's not about you for once. I happen to have an interest in talking to you, and so here we are." Even as he spoke, Yuugi had to admit that he was a little shocked Seto hadn't just walked away already. Seto had always made it a point to keep himself aloof, particularly when it came to his classmates or really anyone who wasn't Mokuba or in the business. He'd been anticipating that it would be a lot more difficult than this to actually get Seto to indulge in a conversation.

"Well, I have no desire to talk to either of you." He was already turning away, apparently having decided that their conversation was indeed concluded, when the peculiar wording caught Yuugi's attention. After well over a year of having Yami share a body, Yuugi had gotten used to people no longer referring to him as singular. So it took him nearly a minute to realize what was wrong with that sentence, and Seto almost had the chance to leave. He was already a couple of steps away when Yuugi's hand shot out and grabbed his arm to stop him.

"You -" Yuugi breathed.

"What?" Seto looked _really_ annoyed now, though strangely enough he didn't try to brush Yuugi's hand away the way Yuugi thought he might.

"You _remember_," he whispered.

Seto blinked, momentarily perplexed, before a slight flicker of fear flashed across his expression. He pulled against Yuugi's grip. "Now I really have no idea what you're talking about!" he snapped.

"Yes you do! I don't know how, but you - you said either of me, which means that you remember a time when there was two of me. Me and Mou hitori no boku." Yuugi stared up at him, stunned, having never expected salvation to come in the form of a grouchy CEO. "_You remember the pharaoh_."

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Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

Ryou's breath caught as Malik slumped forward without warning. There was no time to catch him; he just went limp, like someone had cut the strings that were holding him up, and collapsed straight into Ryou's lap. He stared down at Malik in silent surprise, automatically placing an uncertain hand on top of Malik's head. At least he could tell that Malik was still breathing, just from the feel of the warm breath washing against his belly where his shirt had ridden up a little.

"Ryou-kun, who is this?" Anzu asked, practically vibrating with curiosity. "Don't tell me this is one of those guys that was hurting you!"

"Oh come on, Anzu, if that was the case I doubt he'd have shown up here," said Honda. Like Jou, he had yet to move from the table. But in spite of what he'd said, he watched Malik with narrowed eyes. "Besides, that kid doesn't look strong enough to hurt a fly. Doesn't he ever eat?"

"Not really," Ryou muttered more to himself than to anyone else. His ribs were aching from the awkward position he'd taken, partially bent over Malik's prone form like he could offer protection, but at the same time he didn't want to straighten up. There had been something almost painfully vulnerable about Malik when he walked in: something that had been reminiscent of the expression he'd taken to wearing right after Battle City, when he'd been on eggshells after everything that his yami had done.

He sighed and tucked a few strands of hair behind his ear with his free hand, elaborating without being asked this time. "He's one of my friends. Actually, he's a friend of both Yuugi and me." And he'd thought - hoped - that Malik might be their salvation, but it wasn't looking that way and he had to fight back the raw disappointment. "I didn't know that he was coming into town. He should've called me."

Only Malik couldn't have done that, Ryou realized, because Malik probably didn't have their phone numbers. Just like Ryou didn't have his. He fought back the urge to bang his head against the wall. Everything about this situation was needlessly complicated. He had no idea how Malik had found him, but he was beyond grateful that Malik was here. Just knowing that Malik had remembered them well enough to seek him out made Ryou feel a little bit lighter.

"Another friend of Yuugi's?" Jou said doubtfully.

"From Egypt," Ryou clarified. "His parents are friends of Yuugi's grandfather, but the distance is so long that Malik doesn't visit often. That's probably why Yuugi never mentioned him." They were starting to attract attention now from the other customers in the restaurant. One of the waitresses started walking towards them. He winced. "Jou, I'm sorry, but can you help me? I don't think I can lift him on my own."

Reluctantly, Jou got up and helped to lift Malik from the floor. Ryou got to his feet and watched as Anzu waved the waitress away. He sat down in the booth and helped Jou to prop Malik up, not even minding that it meant Malik was leaning heavily against him. Now that he could see Malik's face in a better light, he could see that Malik was looking very pale. His skin was ashen, washed out, and he wondered how long it had been since Malik had last eaten or slept. Too long, judging by how Malik's nose twitched when he caught the scent of fries and his eyes blinked open.

"What?" he muttered, confused.

"It's me," Ryou said, and handed him the remaining half of his fries. Malik accepted them without protest and ate slowly, lifting one fry to his mouth and chewing before swallowing in between sips of Ryou's diet coke. He looked marginally better by the time he was finished. Everyone remained silent while he was eating, even though Anzu appeared to be seconds away from popping.

"Sorry," Malik said at last, setting the cup down. "I... probably should have stopped to get something to eat before I came to find you, but I didn't want to take the chance that -" He stopped abruptly, as though just realizing that they weren't alone, and Ryou's mind helpfully came up with about ten different ways that sentence could have finished. Nine of them did not bode well.

"Are you okay now?" Anzu asked him. She'd moved to the other side of the booth, clustering in with Jou and Honda to give them plenty of space, but she didn't take her eyes off of Malik. It looked like it was taking all of her strength to stay in one place and not crowd him again, and Ryou was glad that she did. He knew that Malik did not fare well with a lot of attention, particularly when it came from strangers.

"Yes, I am," Malik said, giving her a very small and stiff smile. It was clearly a lie, even if Ryou ignored the way that his hand was shaking when he picked up the cup of diet coke again. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meal."

"It's fine. In fact, those fries weren't nearly enough. We should get you something else," Ryou said. Moving with a lot more caution this time, he stood up and reached down to take Malik's arm. "Come on, before you pass out again. Did you guys want anything? No? We'll be right back." He practically dragged Malik to his feet and pulled him away from the table. He could feel three sets of eyes boring into his back as they walked away, and he knew that his credibility had probably just taken a major blow. He'd be lucky if they came him in the loop about Yuugi, never mind hanging out with him again. He sighed and turned to Malik, realizing that Malik was giving him a scrutinizing stare.

"I'm sorry, Ryou. I guess there are a lot better ways to get your attention than passing out at your feet."

Ryou laughed out loud. He couldn't help it. "Well, I'll give you this much. No one's ever done that before," he kidded, pausing as soon as they were out of sight of the table. He knew they really did need to get Malik some more food, but first things first. "Malik, do you have any idea of what's going on?"

"No," Malik said with a shake of his head. "I was... hoping that you would."

"I wish I did. All I know is that a few days ago I woke up over two hours away from where I fell asleep," Ryou told him. "In my old apartment, surrounded by my old friends, ready to live my old life. There was no sign of the Millennium Ring and no one remembered any of the things that Bakura did." He touched his chest without thinking, stroking the spot where the Ring used to hang.

Malik watched him for a moment before he sighed. "My father's still alive."

"He's... I'm sorry, your father is _what_?" Ryou blinked in horror, wondering if he'd just had some form of hallucination. He knew how Malik's yami had been formed the first time around, the awful tale of how Malik's father had been cruelly mistreating his children until Malik couldn't take it anymore. He also knew that Malik's father had died because of it.

But that was in the old world, wasn't it? Ryou already had proof that things had changed. Without the Millennium Ring, Malik's father would have survived. He didn't need to see the look on Malik's face to know how incredibly traumatizing that would've been. A bolt of sympathy flooded through him and he couldn't resist putting an arm around Malik's shoulders. He was half-expecting Malik to recoil from the touch like he had with Anzu, but to his surprise Malik leaned into it eagerly.

"No one else remembers," Malik mumbled, the words spoken so quietly that Ryou had to strain to hear. "Nee-san, Nii-san... they both acted like it was perfectly normal that our mother and father were still here. Nii-san is actually away at school, can you believe it? I just - I didn't know where else to go."

"You were right to come here," Ryou said with certainty. If nothing else, it made him feel better to know that he had an ally close at hand. "I was thinking about getting on a plane to Egypt myself, only I wasn't sure that I'd be able to find you."

"Before you probably wouldn't have been able to," Malik admitted. "We did a pretty thorough job of hiding ourselves just in case anyone from the clan tried to find us. But now?" He shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm guessing that in this world, my family was never required to be keeper of the pharaoh's tomb. He doesn't seem to have existed. So I suppose it wasn't necessary for us to hide."

"God this is so fucked up," Ryou breathed. He wasn't normally one to swear, but, as far as he was concerned, this situation definitely called for it. "I don't know what to do next."

"How about following through on your offer to buy me supper?"

Ryou laughed. "Yeah, I can do that. What do you want?"

"Anything's fine."

"Alright. Wait here." He didn't bother telling Malik to go back to the others because he knew that Malik wouldn't. It was hard enough trying to be around Jou, Anzu and Honda when he'd been friends with them; he couldn't imagine how awkward it would be in Malik's shoes. He left Malik leaning against the wall and walked up to the cash. He ordered the first thing he saw, a veggie wrap with fries and a regular coke - Malik could probably use the extra sugar at this point. He paid and collected the tray when the food was ready.

"What have you told the others?" Malik asked as soon as he was within earshot again.

"Not much. I don't know what to say," Ryou confessed, glancing at the corner just to be sure that no one was standing there listening. "I mean, if I actually tried to explain about what was going on they'd think I was insane. As it is, everyone thinks that _Yuugi _has lost it." He shook his head, feeling helpless. It was not something he enjoyed. "I really don't know what's going on, Malik. Everyone keeps saying that Yuugi went crazy with no explanation, but there's got to more to the story than that."

"Was he possessed?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe. Anything sounds more plausible than saying that Mutou Yuugi, of all people, just snapped and started throwing rocks at people," Ryou replied. Judging by the astonished look on Malik's face, he felt the same way. "But I haven't been able to get close enough to talk to him to find out."

"Then that's what we have to do next," Malik said determinedly. "We have to find a way to talk to Yuugi. Maybe between the three of us, we can figure out what's going on."

Ryou had no idea whether or not that would be even possible, but just watching Malik as he started marching back towards the table made him feel a million times later. It was comforting to know that someone else was there with him, that he hadn't completely lost his mind. He balanced the tray with one hand and touched his chest again, hand splayed out. Perhaps not completely, but definitely at least a little: there was no other explanation for why he would actually be missing his yami.

**RMA**

In retrospect, Yuugi was kind of surprised that Seto didn't just wrench his arm away and storm out of the room. If there was one thing that the man had made perfectly clear over the years, it was that he disliked being touched by anyone other than Mokuba. And Yuugi knew that. But even as Seto's gaze dropped pointedly to where his arm was held in a white-knuckled grasp, he couldn't bring himself to let go. Because this was the first sign he'd gotten that someone, _anyone_, remembered, and he didn't even care that it had come from Kaiba Seto.

"You remember," he repeated, the words coming out more breathless than he'd interested. The relief was so potent his knees nearly buckled.

Seto watched his face for a moment before his lip curled. "That was a slip of the tongue and nothing more," he said, bringing his other hand up and gripping Yuugi's wrist. His hand tightened until bones creaked and Yuugi gasped from the pain. "I'm under order to remain here for the next week, Mutou. Once I have permission from my therapist, I'm out of here and back to work. I'm not letting anything get in my way of that, understand? So keep your ravings about shadows and pharaohs to yourself and _leave me out of it_."

Common sense told Yuugi to let go, but he couldn't. Not when he was so close to an answer. "Just tell me the truth," he pleaded. "Do you remember, Seto?"

Seto's hesitation was answer enough. "I have dreams sometimes, but that's all they are. Dreams." He roughly tugged his wrist free, throwing Yuugi's arm away as though it was burning him. "I meant what I said, Mutou. Leave me alone. Don't get in my way and don't try to drag me into your little schemes. I have more important things to worry about." He spun away without waiting for Yuugi to say anything, storming towards the doors. He seized a badge from one of the interns as he strode by and swiped it through the lock, passing through without pause. Not a single one of the interns voiced a complaint about his departing alone, and considering the pissed look on Seto's face Yuugi couldn't really blame them.

He made a request to be taken back to his room then, but the intern who got up to escort him informed him that it was time for a session with his therapist. Yuugi sighed but fell in with her obediently, too weary to bother complaining. As they walked down the hall, the intern said, "Between you and me, I'd steer clear of Kaiba. He's really hot, but he's got bad news written all over him. Not the kind of guy you should be hanging around if you're trying to get out of here. He's gonna be here a long time and you don't want his reputation rubbing off on you."

"I thought he said he was leaving at the end of the week," Yuugi said, confused.

The woman snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. He likes to think that, but between you and me? Kaiba isn't going anywhere. That guy has more psychological problems than most of the people in that room put together." She shrugged. The fact that she was telling Yuugi personal information about another patient didn't seem to bother her too much, because she added, "Besides, they've got to make sure he won't harm anyone else before they let him out."

Yuugi froze. "Seto hurt someone?" he asked, amazed. The Seto he knew rarely lifted a hand to anyone, unless it was Jou or someone who'd acted against Mokuba, and even then he'd always preferred to use a cutting remark instead of fists. Failing that, he wasn't above using his position of CEO or his money to get his way. It was completely unlike him to act out physically against someone. Of course, Yuugi couldn't really say anything considering that he'd been locked up for the same reason.

"You didn't know?" she said, sounding surprised. "It was all over the news. He's suspected of having murdered that billionaire, Pegasus Crawford."

"He's _what_?" Yuugi exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

"Well, yeah. That's one of the reasons why he's here, didn't you know?" The woman looked back at him and raised an eyebrow when it became plain that Yuugi really didn't know. "Wow, I thought everyone knew why he was here. After Kaiba was initially suspected of having killed Crawford, people started talking about his stepfather's 'suicide'." She brought her fingers up to make quotes around the word. "He's being investigated up one side and down the other for any suspicious behavior, and he totally shut down about it. Wouldn't say a word to anyone. So they ended up bringing him here. You're one of the first people he's actually responded to." She paused. "Wait, do you guys like know each other?"

Yuugi just stared at her in a stunned daze, only vaguely aware that she had just asked him a question. It was a struggle to understand that Seto, _Kaiba Seto_, the CEO of Kaiba Corp, was under investigation for at least one count of murder, maybe more. He remembered reading about Pegasus's death after Duelist Kingdom, but he knew that time it had been caused by Bakura. Not Seto - even though, after everything Pegasus had done, it wouldn't have surprised Yuugi if Seto had tried to kill the man. What the hell had happened in this world? Was any of this actually true, or was Seto in even deeper trouble than he'd thought? It would be just like him to push away anyone who wanted to help if that was the case.

"Mutou? Hey, you with me?"

He blinked. "Yeah, sorry. I - I just got lost in thought." He lifted a hand and weakly rubbed at his eyes, mind racing. There two possible options here. Either Seto was being framed and but good, or he'd snapped. Yuugi had no idea which one was actually the truth.

But he knew he was going to have to find out.

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Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

Since the doctors still weren't allowing anyone to visit Yuugi, Malik's plan for getting into the asylum was both simple and crazy. Ryou just stared at him for a couple of minutes after he'd finished outlining it. Then he brought a hand up to his face and groaned. "That will _never _work, Malik. You've been watching way too many movies. Is that all you've been doing lately?"

Malik flushed. "I've been catching up on culture," he said defensively, leaning back against the pillow he'd propped himself up on. They were sitting on the bed in the hotel room Ryou had rented. "What else was I supposed to do with my time? Everything up here on the surface is weird. None of you do anything in a way that makes sense to me. Why would you bother locking someone away in a public building? If there's a problem within the family, why doesn't the _head _of the family just deal with it?"

A sick feeling engulfed Ryou at the memory of just how Malik's father had _dealt_ with it. "That's not how most people do things now," he said gently, feeling a little guilty for being so critical of Malik's movie watching. How confusing must it be to be thrust into the modern world with no guide? Isis was probably just as bewildered as her brother, though she was much less likely to actually admit it. No wonder Malik had been relying on the media to catch him up on what he'd missed out on.

"Well, then what do you suggest?"

That was the problem. As crazy as Malik's plan was, Ryou didn't actually have a better option in mind. "I don't have anything," he admitted. "But I'm still not sure that dressing up as doctors is the way to go. For one thing, neither of us look old enough for that. We're not kids, but we're definitely not old enough to have gone through university. You haven't got the Millennium Rod anymore. You can't make people see what you want them to see."

"We can fake it until we make it," Malik said dismissively. "If there's one thing that Nee-san has taught me, it's that people will believe anything if you present yourself with enough confidence." He sat up and looked at Ryou seriously. "We need to get into that building, Ryou. Unless you have a better plan…"

"I know, I know." Ryou tapped his fingers against his bottom lip, thinking. There was something neither of them had mentioned yet: mainly that not only did they need to talk to Yuugi, but that they would need to _keep_ talking to him. Yuugi was the third light, the only other person who remembered what was going on, which meant he would likely be vital to whatever they did next. And since he doubted they'd be successful at this more than once (if they even managed that), that meant they would need to take Yuugi with them.

He was going to become a fugitive at the age of seventeen, he thought with a wry smile and a shake of his head. If Bakura could have only seen him now, Ryou suspected that his yami would've been proud. If he didn't have a heart attack first! He grinned wider at the thought, taking pleasure in imagining the look on Bakura's face if he discovered that his so-called weakling of a partner was sitting here trying to figure out how they could commit a crime. No doubt Bakura would've had a scathing review of their plan, and he probably would've been able to offer some pointers.

"You're doing it again," Malik said, and Ryou glanced up in surprise.

"Doing what?"

"Thinking about Bakura." There was a slightly sad cast to Malik's smile as he nodded his head towards Ryou's chest. Ryou followed his gaze and realized that he'd been rubbing his chest again while he contemplated his absent other half. Blushing hotly, he dropped his hand quickly.

"I wasn't –" he started.

"Oh please, don't even bother. I'm not stupid." Malik shook his head. "It's okay, Ryou. That you think of him, I mean. I know you miss him."

"I…" Ryou trailed off, uncertain of how he was supposed to respond to that. By all rights, he should have been glad that Bakura was gone. And in a way, he was. It was nice to have his body to himself, to know that no one was listening in on his thoughts, to not wake up and wonder whether his body had been out committing crimes while he was asleep. But he was also keenly aware that the hotel room had been a very quiet place before Malik showed up, and the apartment he'd lived in before things had changed had not been any better.

"You feel guilty," said Malik knowingly. "Because you think you shouldn't miss him."

Ryou tilted his head. "Are you speaking from experience?"

There was a visible hesitation on Malik's part before he said slowly, "When the pharaoh got rid of my yami, I thought I'd be happy. He made my life a fucking misery and I couldn't wait for him to be gone. But when I woke up that morning and saw my father sitting at the dining room table…" He looked away and curled in on himself, pulling his knees to his chest in a protective way that made Ryou's heart ache. "I wished that he was here, with me, and ever since then I can't get it out of my head."

"Do you still…"

This time the silence was even longer, and Malik's voice was barely audible when he said, "Sometimes."

Malik looked so unhappy, radiating misery, but there was nothing that Ryou could do and it ate at him. What kind of cruel soul out there had decided it would be fun to make yami and hikari in the first place? And worse yet, to then tear them apart… Even if Malik's situation was a little different, he was still feeling the loss. He reached over and placed a hand on Malik's arm, squeezing gently. "Do you think maybe it's better this way?" he asked hesitantly. "Without the pharaoh and the others, I mean."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess I just thought... I had to get used to not having Bakura around anymore in the old world, too. So I could probably get used to it here, too." Although truthfully, he didn't think he had fully adjusted to it quite yet. It was likely that he never would. But that was something he tried hard to keep to himself, and Malik had already seen deeper inside of him than Ryou was fully comfortable with. He added, "Maybe... Maybe we shouldn't be trying to figure out what happened, maybe we should be trying to move on with our lives as best we can."

"No," Malik said firmly, without an ounce of doubt. "It's not. I don't believe my father is a better man here than he was in the old world, and the thought of Nee-chan and Nii-chan being around him makes me sick. And... I'm not sure that's really an option."

"What do you mean?" asked Ryou.

"Even putting aside Yuugi and the weirdness that's going on with him, I keep seeing... shadows." Malik made a vague gesture with his hand to indicate the air around them. "Out of the corners of my eyes, I mean. I don't know what they're for, but it's creeping me out. It feels like the Shadow Realm."

"You have got to be kidding me," Ryou muttered. That definitely clinched it: there was something bizarre going on and he was worried it was going to get worse before it got better. Reluctantly he said, "People are following me. I don't know who they are or what they want, but there's at least four of them. Most of the time they just stand back and don't come close, but last time they jumped me." He brushed his cheek without thinking and winced. "If it hadn't been for a group of people walking by, I'm not sure they would've stopped."

The recollection of that split second when they'd grabbed him, of walking down the street minding his own business and having hands seize his shoulders and drag him into a dark alley, lingered even now in the broad daylight. They'd thrown him roughly to the ground and then fell on him with fists and feet, ignoring his frightened questions and later cries of pain. He hadn't slept well since it had happened; every time he closed his eyes he had a dream where he was either right back in the alley or he awoke to find the strangers standing above him.

That was why he knew exactly how Malik felt. At that moment, every awful or humiliating experience that he had gone through because of his yami had vanished from his mind. He would have happily done _anything_ if only Bakura would have arrived to save him, because those men wouldn't have stood a chance in hell against the thief king. He'd blocked a fair portion of the attack out, but he had a vivid memory of curling into a ball and whimpering Bakura's name in some pathetic hope that he would come.

He hadn't, though, of course. Instead a group of Domino University students had been walking by and heard the commotion. A couple of them, probably looking to play hero, had come into the alley and scared the strangers away. Ryou had refused all offers of medical help and limped back to his hotel, where he'd spent most of the night huddled on his bed in a hell of a lot of pain. The pain hadn't abated, either. It was a cold burn in his muscles and bones whenever he breathed or moved.

"Ryou..." His name was a soft whisper and Ryou glanced up at him, realizing that he'd gotten lost in thought again. Malik was watching him, and when he saw that he had Ryou's attention he put his hand over Ryou's. "We have to go now. If nothing else, there's safety in numbers."

"You're right," Ryou said, knowing that it was the truth. If this was happening to him and Malik, it was safe to assume that something similar was going on with Yuugi. Having the three of them together was their best bet. He turned carefully, placing his feet flat on the ground and easing his body into a standing position. His ribs ached horribly, but he didn't think anything was broken. He wrapped an arm protectively across his midsection just in case.

Malik got up too, and the two of them left the room together. The hotel was a small, seedy little place, the kind that Ryou normally wouldn't have stayed in were it for not for the fact that he knew he couldn't afford anywhere else - well, that and he didn't know if many upscale establishments would've been willing to rent to a lone teenager. He'd already noticed that a lot of the people passing through here weren't exactly indulging in legal activities. Bakura would've had a field day.

He licked his lips as they stepped outside and let the question that had bubbling steadily in his mind rise to the surface. "What if we could?" he asked, squinting in the too bright light. The strain made his eyes ache. "What if things went back to the way they used to be, only they were... here?"

Like a perfectly choreographed move Malik went down hard, stumbling and tripping forward onto his hands and knees with a yelp as flesh met concrete. Ryou spun to face him and caught sight of a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, one he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't chosen to turn around at exactly that moment. He deliberately did not turn his head to look in that direction, not yet. Instead he looked down at his friend, unable to lean down to help.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that."

"It's okay. I just... _god_, Ryou," Malik muttered, leaning back on his heels and examining his palms. He licked at the scrapes ruefully, apparently not minding the bitter taste of gravel.

"Jou's over there."

"Eh?" Malik's head turned automatically, glancing in the opposite direction. Ryou suppressed a smile.

"Not there, the other way. Don't look! He'll run away if he thinks that we're onto him."

"But we are." Grimacing, Malik stood up and dusted off his knees. The skin was raw and abraded and he winced when he shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Give me a little more warning before you say something like that next time, okay?"

"I said sorry."

"Sorry doesn't heal me."

Ryou patted him on the shoulder, knowing that Malik would soon forget about the sting, and said, "I think Jou's trying to figure out what we're up to."

"Well of course he is. He probably wants to know what you've got planned for Mazaki."

It was Ryou's turn to blink blankly. "What?"

Malik rolled his eyes. "You didn't notice? Honestly, you people are all so oblivious that it's a wonder you made it this far. Mazaki, Ryou! She's got a huge crush on you. I haven't even been around her all that much and I could tell. She spent the whole time that we were at Burger World staring at_ you_ the way she used to stare at the pharaoh. Frankly it's a good thing Bakura's not around, or she'd be missing some eyes."

"That's not -" Ryou started to sputter and then stopped when he realized that Malik might actually be right. He went silent and tried to remember all of his conversations with Anzu that had taken place over the past couple of days. They'd never been all that close before the world changed, mostly because she'd always been more preoccupied with Yuugi and the pharaoh than anyone else. Had she really been looking at him like that? He reeled back as he realized that Malik was, in fact, correct. Anzu really had been watching him. "Oh my god."

"Clueless," Malik said with a shake of his head and a smirk. "I wonder what Yuugi would say if he knew."

Ryou tried not to grimace. He actually didn't think that Yuugi was still as hung up on Anzu as he had been in the past. After all, Ryou had firsthand knowledge of exactly how a yami-hikari partnership could change the way someone looked at the world. But he was also pretty sure that, interested in Anzu or not, the rule about not dating the ex-girlfriends of your friends still applied. "But I'm not interested in Anzu-san like that. I've never thought of her that way."

"I know that, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't. Look, you stay here. I'll see what blondie wants." Quick as a wink, Malik vanished. For someone who had been born and raised away from the modern world, he still possessed an uncanny ability to blend in with crowds. Ryou stared at the place where he had just been standing and thought that perhaps breaking Yuugi out of the asylum wouldn't be as difficult as they had thought. Then again, there was also the possibility that could've been just desperation talking.

He shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun, still not looking in the direction he knew Jou to be in, and contemplated Anzu. She was a nice girl as far as girls went, extremely loyal and always willing to speak her mind when necessary. It might have sounded like a cliché, but he really did believe that any man would be fortunate to have her as a partner. But she was not the sort of girl that Ryou would have been interested in even if he did swing that way, and he was almost positive that in the normal world she hadn't liked him that way.

"Things have gotten so screwed up," he muttered, finally turning around when he heard the sounds of a commotion. He strolled over to the bushes that had been planted along the hotel's perimeter, a poor effort at maintaining some sort of landscaping, and was not surprised to see that Malik and Jou were rolling around in the dirt. It looked like Malik had surprised him and Jou had reacted negatively.

For a couple of minutes he allowed the two of them to scuffle it out, if only because he was pretty sure that a little bit of fighting might actually get Malik to calm down, and when it looked like they had each acquired a couple of new bruises he said coolly, "Are you done? It's going to be dark before long and if we're going to the asylum today then I'd rather it happened while it's light enough out that I can see what I'm doing."

"Spoilsport," Malik said, performing an elaborate twist that allowed him to immediately escape Jou's hold. He rolled over and sat up blinking before he ran a hand through his hair to tame it, like a kitten that had just woke up from a nap.

"You're going to the hospital?" Jou said, not trying to pull Malik back into the fight. He sat up too, looking confused. "Why? They won't let anyone talk to Yuugi. I already tried. The nurses at the Information Desk turned me away."

"Well we weren't exactly going to do it legally," said Malik.

Ryou gave him a nudge with the tip of his shoe to silence him. "We already know that the doctors won't let anyone see Yuugi, but we have to," he said, looking Jou in the eyes. "Furthermore, I think we're going to end up breaking him out in the process. I'm only telling you this because I know how loyal you are, and I thought you might want to help."

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Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

The fortunate part about where Yuugi was being kept was that it was a part of the hospital, meaning that Malik, Ryou and Jou could walk right in and no one questioned their presence or thought it strange that the three teens were there. Or at least, no one did until they caught a second glimpse of Jou. Malik couldn't resist shooting him a dirty look when, for the third time in as many minutes, Jou shook his head and, in a voice not much below a bellow, remarked that he thought they were going to get caught.

"Will you be quiet!" he hissed finally. Ryou reached out, not really even pay attention, and laid a gentle hand on Malik's shoulder. Possibly to remind him that killing people was not looked upon favorably. "We know it's not the best plan in the world, you idiot. But unless you have something better to offer, or unless you actually _want_ us to get caught, I suggest you shut. Up."

Jou's mouth snapped shut and he looked offended. Before he could deliver a scathing response, Ryou said, "He's right, Jou. The more attention we draw, the higher the chance that someone's going to remember who we are. That means they'll be able to give a good description to the police. That's the last thing we want. So I think that from now on all of us should just be quiet unless we have something important to share, okay?"

Malik grudgingly turned away as Jou subsided into silence, peering around the corner at the double set of doors just down the hallway. They had to get through those doors, but they were locked. He turned back around and, ignoring what Ryou had just asked, said, "I don't think we have a choice. We're going to have to knock someone out and borrow their card."

"What!"

"Malik –"

"Hear me out, okay? Those doors have an electronic lock. I doubt even you could get through them, thief prince." Ryou's cheeks flushed pink, silencing him more effectively than any other remark could have. Jou just looked confused. Malik smirked and went on. "The chances of us being able to find a card just lying around is pretty slim to none, and the chances of us getting out of here before someone noticed and reported it missing is even less. I don't know about you, but once we get Yuugi I do_ not_ want to be stopped. But if we can get someone out of the way for a little while and use their card, we can be in and out before anyone is the wiser."

"You can't be serious," said Ryou.

"I don't have the Rod, Ryou, you said it yourself. How else do you expect this to work?"

"Actually, much as I hate to admit it, I think he's right," Jou said at the same time. Both boys turned to stare at him. "I'm not sure why you're doing this, and frankly I think you've both lost your minds. But I'm not leaving my best friend here if I don't have to. If you're breaking him out I'm going to be a part of it. And I really don't see any other way it can be done. I've spent a lot of time around hospitals. Even if you managed to sneak in behind someone or borrow a card, I can guarantee that they'll stop you as soon as they notice that you don't have permission to be in there. You'll never get close to Yuugi. The three of us are going to stick out like sore thumbs. But if we nudged someone out of the way and borrowed their coat too…"

"I am a party to insanity and future fugitives," Ryou moaned, pressing a hand to his face. Bakura would've had a _field day_. He tried not to acknowledge the fleeting thought that he wished Bakura were there to enjoy it and looked up into twin smirks instead. It was positively eerie. He pointed a finger into their faces. "Stop that. You two are not allowed to gang up on me before we get Yuugi out. That's not fair."

"You wanted us to get along better," Malik pointed out, smirk not fading in the least. "Look, you wait here. Make sure that no one comes in or out who might cause some trouble. Jou and I will be right back."

Before Ryou could protest, the two of them promptly disappeared. He had to fight back the urge to bang his head against the wall multiple times, wondering why he'd been foolish enough to think that Malik and Jou teaming up would be a good idea. The two of them were strangely alike in some ways and right now both of them shared a common goal. He actually felt sorry for whatever doctor they laid their hands on, because he was pretty sure that he or she was going to need some therapy after this.

He waited for several minutes, keeping an eye on the door, but no one came in or out. That was, until he heard the sound of the fire alarm blaring. He jumped and pressed closer to the wall, watching as the halls literally exploded with people running in every which direction. A hand came down on his shoulder and he squeaked, spinning around. Malik grinned at him and threw a white coat into his face. Ryou pulled it off and realized that they were already wearing white coats, and that Jou's coat had a card pinned to it. He suspected that Doctor Miyazaki was having a particularly bad day.

"I don't remember agreeing to set off the fire alarm," he said.

"Plans change. This way no one will remember us or pay any attention. Now put your coat on," Jou ordered, eyes gleaming with excitement. He was having way too much fun with this, Ryou thought, pulling the coat on regardless. It was too long in the sleeves, falling over his hands, and it hung down almost to his ankles. He huffed and rolled the sleeves up as best he could.

"This has bad idea written all over it," he muttered, reluctantly following the others around the corner. Jou strode right up to the doors like had every right to be there and swiped the card. The light turned green and they walked in. Ryou's heart was pounding from the thought that they might be caught, but right away he had to admit that setting the alarm off was a stroke of (criminal) genius. No one looked twice at them, too preoccupied with the patients that were upset at the loud, piercing sound. It was the perfect cover.

"Alright," Malik said, glancing around quickly. "The patient rooms are this way."

"What if Yuugi's not in his room?"

"Don't borrow trouble, Ryou, come on!" Malik grabbed his hand and physically pulled him along, keeping up with Jou easily. Most of the doors were open, and those that weren't had thick planes of glass to see through. Roughly a dozen doors down, they found Yuugi.

He was sitting on his bed dressed in shapeless blue pants and a blue shirt, apparently unconcerned over the fact that the fire alarm was going off. When he saw them, his eyes went wide. "You guys, what are you doing here?" he exclaimed. And then, "oh my _god_, I'm so glad to see you."

"Not as glad as we are," Ryou mumbled, accepting Yuugi's enthusiastic embrace a little too eagerly. Just being in proximity to his friend automatically made him feel safer, even though that was foolish because Yuugi clearly had no idea what was going on either. He hugged Yuugi tightly and was reluctant to let go, even though he knew they didn't have time to linger.

"Do you remember?" Yuugi whispered, the words meant for Ryou's ears alone.

Something hard and cold in Ryou's chest abruptly eased when he heard those words, because he knew what they meant. He nodded as they pulled apart, unable to speak, and watched the same relief flash across Yuugi's face. They looked at each other for a few seconds in perfect, silent agreement before Yuugi turned to greet Jou with a friendly smile. Ryou stared at the wall for a moment, catching his breath, before he said, "We should probably leave. It won't be long before they figure out that fire was a fake."

"Um," Malik said.

Ryou stared at him. "Malik, please tell me that fire was a fake."

Malik wore a guilty expression. "Well, if it was a fake there was a chance they'd figure that out and turn the alarm off," he said defensively, spreading his hands. "That wouldn't do us any good, now would it? It wasn't a big fire. Just a small one in the cafeteria, that's all, enough to keep their attention and get the fire department involved so that we'd have the opportunity to sneak out."

"Dear lord," Ryou muttered.

Yuugi cleared his throat, trying not to laugh. "I just have to get one thing and then we can go."

"What?" Jou asked.

From the way Yuugi glanced at him and Malik, Ryou had an inkling of what he was about to say. Sure enough, Yuugi said, "Seto."

"Seto? Wait, you want to get _Kaiba_?" The expression on Jou's face was priceless. "Yuugi, up until now I didn't think there was anything wrong with you. But now I'm wondering if you really have lost your mind. Kaiba's an asshole. He's never done anything for either of us. In fact, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care if you were lying in the street dying."

"I'm not leaving without him, Jou. I know that's hard for you to understand, but Seto is not the person you think he is. He's our friend."

Jou looked around, as though searching for support. "Our _friend_? Yuugi... If Kaiba's been locked up in here, why the hell would want to help him escape? Haven't you been reading the news? The guy's even crazier than I thought he was. He's dangerous."

"Seto's not dangerous," Yuugi said stubbornly. "Or at least, if he is it's with good reason. They suspect him of having killed Pegasus," he added for Ryou's and Malik's benefit.

"Oh, well," Ryou said awkwardly. It was hard for him to condone anyone killing Pegasus when technically, his body had been the one to do it the first time around. Besides that, he knew exactly what Pegasus had put Kaiba Seto through. It wasn't a stretch of the imagination to believe that Pegasus might have been up to the same games in this world. If that was the case, no wonder Seto had snapped without the rest of them around to offer support against the man. Even Seto had a limit of patience.

"Oh well?" Jou sputtered. "Are you insane?"

"Possibly," Malik said.

"Malik," Yuugi said. "Not helping."

"There's no way we're taking Kaiba with us!" Jou said.

"I'm not leaving without him," said Yuugi.

"Then I guess he's coming," Ryou said, not pleased about the idea but knowing Yuugi well enough to realize that he was not going to budge. He spotted the look on Jou's face that meant he was about to argue some more and shook his head silently, hoping that Jou would get the message. Fighting with Yuugi when he'd decided to save someone was a lost cause, and Jou would be wasting his breath.

"Where is he?" Malik said, having apparently come to the same conclusion. "I think we have about five minutes before someone figures out that we're not supposed to be here. The fire we set wasn't that large and it's probably been contained already." He cast a nervous glance at the door.

"His room was just down the hall from mine." Yuugi pushed past them and left the room at a run, leaving the rest of his friends to follow. By the time they caught up Yuugi was standing in front of a locked door. Malik ushered him aside and went to work on the lock with a dexterity that made Ryou think he might've had lessons - and he suspected he knew who might've given them, too. He tried not to think about it too closely as Malik pushed the door open.

Kaiba Seto arched an eyebrow over his book. "I thought I made my opinion regarding you perfectly clear, Mutou."

"You did, but I've never listened to what you said before and I'm not going to start now," Yuugi replied calmly, but there was a thread of steel running through his voice that was eerily familiar. Ryou and Malik exchanged a look as Yuugi went on, "Come on, Seto. I know that there's no good reason why you should be in here, and this is your chance to get out and clear your name. You know that the Big 5 are going to be doing everything they can to cast you in a bad light and make sure you don't get to leave. You really think you can kick their asses while you're stuck in here?"

"Go away," Seto said, clearly unimpressed by Yuugi's impassioned speech. "I don't need your help."

"Well, you've got it!" Surprisingly, it was Jou of all people who spoke. He glared at Seto. "Look, I'm all for leaving you here. I don't think you deserve Yuugi's help and it's beyond me why he wants to give it to you. But he does, so get your ass off of that bed and get moving. If for nothing else, I would think that your baby brother would warrant an escape. I can't imagine how Mokuba's been dealing with trying to take care of Kaiba Corp, never mind those fuckers who put you in here. If they did this to you, what do you think they'd do to him without you around to stop them?"

Mokuba had always been Seto's weak point, and Ryou had no idea how Jou knew that but it worked. Seto's eyes widened slightly and his body tensed, though he stayed where he was for almost another full minute before he finally got up. "My brother is none of your concern," he snapped out through gritted teeth, but he moved towards the door.

Relieved that there would be no more arguing, Ryou led the way back down the hall. His heart pounded hard with every step he took, fully expecting that at any point someone was going to shout at them. He jumped again when the fire alarm was finally switched off, knowing it was a bad sign, and ducked his head. But right away he knew there was no way they were getting back through the doors they had entered: a couple of doctors were standing right in front of them, discussing the fire alarm. From the sounds of it they were blaming an intern for having been the cause. He paused at the corner, watching them, but they showed no signs of leaving.

"What now?" Malik hissed.

"How should I know? Why don't you go start another fire?" Ryou snapped, and then reached out and caught Malik by the back of his coat when he started moving away. "I was being _sarcastic_, Malik. I don't think that another fire is going to improve our situation right now."

"It would get them away from the doors," Yuugi pointed out. Ryou looked at him in disbelief, amazed that Yuugi would suggest something that could end in the possibility of innocent people getting hurt. But then Yuugi pressed close enough that his icy cold hand found its way into Ryou's, and Ryou understood: Yuugi was _terrified_ of being left behind, of having to go back to being told that he was crazy and the pharaoh had never existed. For Yuugi, that might very well be the end.

"No fire," said Seto. "I know another way out."

"How?" Jou demanded.

Seto pinned him with a glare. "How do you think?" he demanded, his tone strongly suggesting that he thought Jou was an idiot. "When I realized that I was being sent here I looked up the building's blueprints. Just in the event that the court didn't decide to see things my way."

"Of course you did," Ryou said, more amused than anything as he squeezed Yuugi's hand in what he hoped was a comforting way. Seto wasn't the friendliest person in the world, but in this case Ryou thought that he could probably be trusted. He had every reason to want to get out of here as quickly as possible and no reason to lead them into a trap. "Lead on, then."

"What? You can't trust –"

"Save it. We don't have time for you to complain. If you don't want to come, then don't. Find your own way out," Malik told him bluntly, already walking after Seto. Ryou and Yuugi followed, and it wasn't long before he heard the sound of Jou's footsteps trudging after them. Even though it was tempting he didn't turn around to look, sensing that any acknowledgement of Jou's presence might be enough to make him turn back.

Seto led them past the rooms he and Yuugi had been in, all the way down to another corridor where he turned left. That left them standing in front of an elevator that they needed Jou's card to get into. It was a fairly large space, but it felt cramped. Ryou squeezed himself into the corner with Yuugi and Malik, not wanting to be in the way of Jou and Seto glowering at each other. It was the most animated he'd seen Jou in this world: the tension was crackling between them, only seconds away from coming to blows.

"What do you think?" Yuugi asked quietly, eyeing the two of them nervously.

Ryou looked at Seto and Jou, hoping that they wouldn't get any closer, before he turned back to Yuugi. Yuugi, who looked like the two weeks he'd spent inside of the asylum had been the worst days of his life. He sighed. "I think that it's amazing how much Bakura has managed to screw up my life when he doesn't even exist."

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Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

The second they stepped outside of the hospital, Yuugi paused and took a deep breath. He didn't even care that the old elevator had let them off in the parking garage and he was actually breathing in gas fumes and god knows what else, not fresh air. It was still completely different from the recycled air of the hospital and that was all he cared about. Noticing that Ryou was smiling at him, he tried to smile back. "Thanks for that," he said, knowing that he would never be able to put his gratitude into words. He didn't think he'd been crazy before he went into the asylum, but there was a good chance that place had driven him to that point.

"No problem," Ryou said, like they hadn't just technically broken the law. "I have to admit, I can't believe that actually worked. I thought for sure that we were going to get caught."

"Hey, my plans are awesome. They always work." Malik spun around to face them, continuing to walk backwards, a smug grin on his face.

"Oh really? Then why don't you explain that," said Seto.

The grin on Malik's face disappeared quickly when he turned back around and saw what Seto was pointing to. There were police cars out in front of the hospital. Several officers were milling around. Some were speaking to doctors, and Yuugi's heart sank when he noticed that one of those doctors was the woman he'd been assigned to. Had their absence been noticed already? He swallowed hard, not even realizing that he was squeezing Ryou's hand so tightly that Ryou winced a little. The thought of having to go back to the asylum was terrifying, and he honestly wasn't sure what he would do if that turned out to be the case.

"Uh oh," Jou said under his breath, already stripping off the white coat. He bundled it up and threw it under the nearest car, kicking it with his foot until it was no longer in sight. "That's the doctor that Malik and I took care of." He nodded to a tall man who was sitting on the edge of an ambulance. A couple of paramedics were hovering around him. The man looked very cross.

"Apparently you didn't do a very good job," Seto snapped, sounding like he was seconds way from really losing his temper. "For future reference, the next time you idiots decide to knock someone out and steal their identity you should make sure that the person actually stays out of the way."

"What do you mean, _for future reference_?" Ryou demanded.

At the same time, Jou said, "Look Kaiba, if it weren't for Yuugi you wouldn't even be here. It's only because he felt sorry for you that we even bothered to drag your sorry ass out of that room! So unless you want to go right back in, I suggest you start being a little nicer. Because I could easily walk over to one of those officers and tell them exactly who you are and what you're capable of."

The look Seto shot him could have set wood on fire, practically daring Jou to follow through on his threat. Before things could get too heated, Yuugi spoke up. "Alright you two, that's enough," he said as sternly as he could, trying to remember how Yami had talked when he wanted everyone else to listen to him. "You might not like each other, but right now your fighting is _not _helping the situation. We're going to have to work together unless we want to get caught, and I for one have no plans on going back into that place."

"Yuugi's right. We have to come up with a plan to get past the police," said Ryou, glancing at Malik. Yuugi knew exactly what he was thinking: this would be so much easier if Malik had the Rod. All Malik would have had to do was make everyone believe that no one was there and they would've been able to walk right on by. Simple and effective. If only it were that easy!

An uncomfortable moment of silence fell, broken only when Seto said, "I need a cell phone."

"What for?" Ryou asked, though he was already taking his phone out of his pocket and handing it over. Seto didn't bother to explain, just turned his back and punched in a number. A moment later he was muttering furiously into the phone. Yuugi didn't bother to wonder who he was talking to. It didn't seem like Seto was going to be that helpful. It would be up to the four of them to figure out what they were going to do.

"I don't suppose anyone knows how to hotwire a car," he said after a few seconds.

"Don't look at me," Ryou said, holding up his hands. "There was a lot that Bakura taught me whether I wanted to learn it or not, but that wasn't one of them."

"Who's Bakura?" Jou asked. "I thought that was your last name."

"Um," Ryou mumbled.

"Not now, Jou," Yuugi said, rubbing his head. He was growing tired, and he wasn't sure how long he would have before the adrenaline rush stopped combating the drugs in his system.

"Well I don't know how to hotwire a car, but I do have these." Malik reached into the pocket of the white coat he was still wearing and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them, and even Seto turned around at the tell-tale jangling sound. Hanging off of the keys was one of those little attachments to unlock the doors remotely. Malik grabbed it and hit the button. Somewhere behind them, they heard a beeping to indicate that it worked.

"Do it again," Ryou urged. He and Yuugi took one side while Malik and Jou checked the others. They found it first, a white SUV that looked like it had seen better days. Malik clicked the button again just to be sure and let out a crow of triumph when the headlights flashed. He called to the others and a few seconds later they were all standing in front of what might be their ticket out.

But only, Yuugi thought, if they used it right. He shared a look with Ryou and said, "Ryou will drive. The rest of us will hide in the back."

"I'm not getting into that car with one of you idiots in the driver's seat," said Seto.

"You don't have a choice. You can't drive. The whole point is to get us out of here without being noticed, and I can guarantee someone out there is going to notice if you're the one driving. You're Kaiba Seto. _Everyone_ knows who you are, especially now," Yuugi said reasonably, ignoring the way Seto's expression darkened at the mention of the newspapers. "The same goes for me. Jou and Malik are the ones who knocked that doctor out, so it's better if Ryou is the only one up front. If we can't all fit in the back, Malik can duck down on the floor."

"Do you even know how to drive?" Jou asked sceptically.

"Yes," Ryou lied. He had a basic idea, though he'd only been behind the wheel a handful of times. That had been back when he was just a kid and his mother had taken him and Amane to visit Osamu while he was on a dig. Sometimes the crew would take Ryou out in the desert in a jeep and let him handle the wheel. They got a kick out of how excited he'd get. He took the keys slowly. It couldn't be that different.

"Just take your time, but not too slow," Yuugi said under his breath, opening the back door. "There's a chance that the doctor will recognize his vehicle."

"Great." The driver's seat looked even more daunting now. Hesitantly, Ryou climbed in and closed the door. He put his seatbelt on and started the car before realizing he couldn't see anything out the mirrors: they were all adjusted to someone who was much taller. But the controls must have been electronic and he couldn't figure out how to change them.

"Let's go," Jou hissed from the back. "This is uncomfortable."

"We're all in?" Ryou glanced over his shoulder just to check. Seto, Yuugi and Jou were all strapped in. Jou and Seto had bent forward, leaving Yuugi sitting up – he was the only one short enough and far enough away from the tinted window that no one would be able to see him.

"Go for it," Yuugi said with an encouraging smile, not envying Ryou one bit. He held onto the seatbelt, wishing that it strapped across his chest, as Ryou gingerly eased his foot down on the accelerator. Fortunately the car had been backed in, and Ryou was able to drive straight out. He turned the wheel carefully and gave it a little more gas. All of them held their breaths as the car rolled down the ramp and out into the daylight.

A few people were looking at the car, Yuugi could tell. But because they were coming from the area where only doctors and nurses parked, it didn't seem like anyone was too interested. At least, not until one of the doctors turned around and stared straight at them. Yuugi was too far away to be able to see his face, but he could definitely see the man turning towards the nearest officer. Ryou must have been watching, too – not entirely comforting considering he was supposed to be focusing on the road – because he floored it. The car lurched forward and horns blared as they shot into traffic.

"Slow down!" Seto barked, sitting up quickly. "Turn right up ahead – no, not yet, there. Yes! Turn right here! With your turn signal!" His voice jumped into a pitch that sounded much too high for him, something that Jou probably would've teased him for had he not been clinging to the door with an iron grip as Ryou jerked the wheel sharply, sending the truck skidding across two lanes of traffic.

"So this is how I'm going to die," Malik mused, trying and failing to sound calm. "Strange, Nee-san always thought that it would be something substantially more dangerous than this."

"I'm not sure anything could be more dangerous than this," Seto forced out through gritted teeth. "Turn left and pull over!"

Ryou did as commanded, shoving his foot down on the brake so quickly that the SUV lurched to a stop that snapped them all forward. For a long moment, no one moved or breathed. Yuugi only took a deep breath when he became aware of the burning need to. He gasped once and straightened up, his stomach aching from where the seatbelt had stopped him from flying through the windshield. He glanced at Ryou, noting how tightly he was clinging to the steering wheel, and decided that in terms of escape plans, that probably hadn't been the most well-thought out idea.

"Well," Malik said after several seconds, "we're still alive."

Seto snorted and threw his door open, exiting the car with a muttered comment that was probably best left unrepeated. "You people are_ idiots_," he said scornfully, and this time it was easily audible. "I can't believe I willingly went along with your scheme. You could've gotten us all killed or caught. As it is, the police probably know exactly where we are. All they'd have to do is question the motorists that you nearly killed and they'd have a clear path right to us!"

"I don't make it a practice to drive often," Ryou snapped, fumbling to unsnap his belt. "Excuse me for not having my license yet!"

"Seto, where are you going?" Yuugi said at the same time.

"Where does it look like?" Seto said, rolling his eyes. "Away from you. I have work to do and it doesn't include playing around with you."

"But you're going to get into more trouble!" Quickly, Yuugi unbuckled his belt and slid across the seat until he could hop down to the ground. His legs felt weak, like they didn't want to support his weight after the unexpected excitement and days of drugs and little other sustenance. He leaned heavily against the car and looked up at Seto imploringly. "Please don't go. You don't understand, someone is purposely targeting us. If you go by off yourself, you're going to make yourself an even easier target. It's better if we stay together."

"And just who do you think is targeting _us_?" Seto asked mockingly, his tone more than making it clear that he thought Yuugi was stupid. He actually stopped, though, as though he waiting for an answer. The problem was, Yuugi didn't have one.

He hesitated and glanced at Malik and Ryou. Truth be told, he couldn't have begun to even guess who it was. The list of people who hated Mutou Yuugi, Bakura Ryou and Malik Ishtar was extremely long, and it could have been any one of them. The list tripled when he thought about all of Seto's enemies - there was a chance, albeit a small one, that Seto might have been the real target and the rest of them had just been caught up in the waves. After all, Seto wasn't doing too well without Yami's interference.

His prolonged silence seemed to be enough of an answer for Seto. Without bothering to say another word he turned on his heel and started to walk away. Yuugi wanted to stop him, but he knew better than that. Unlike the last time he'd grabbed Seto's arm to stop him from leaving, this time it wouldn't work out so well. Now that he no longer thought he needed their help Seto wouldn't want to have anything to do with them unless he had to. It wasn't that hard to guess where he was going, either. Mokuba was probably waiting for his brother.

"That's gratitude for you," Jou said sourly, folding his arms and glaring after Seto. "That guy is such a jerk, I don't know why you insisted on breaking him out too. You should've left him there."

"We're probably going to need his help, Jou," Yuugi said wearily. Even if he did have the tendency to be a jerk, Seto was a formidable ally. Not just because of his money and connections, but because he refused to give up no matter how bad the situation was. Once he put his mind to something, he made it happen. Plus, he had already admitted that he had some knowledge of the old world. That alone would make it worthwhile in Yuugi's book.

"With what, exactly? I have to say, I don't understand what's going on here Yuugi. Who_ are_ these guys? How do you know them?" Jou turned a suspicious look on Ryou and Malik. "They say they're your friends, but you've never mentioned them before. And why would someone be targeting you for anything? Are you in some kind of trouble?" He looked like he was about two seconds from trying to solve the issue with his fists and Yuugi stepped forward hurriedly.

"Ryou and Malik_ are_ my friends. I know you don't recognize them, but believe me when I say that you can trust them," he said, holding his hands up soothingly. There was no way to express just how deeply Yuugi's trust in them ran. Ryou was loyal to a fault, and Malik had done some awful things in his time and not all of them had been under his yami's influence, that was true, but he had more than proven himself as far as Yuugi was concerned. They were all in this together.

Jou didn't look convinced. "I want to know what's going on."

"And I'll tell you, but not here." Yuugi glanced around, highly aware that Seto had a point. They were standing in a parking lot and it might not take the police too long to track them down. "We have to go somewhere else. Not the game shop, that's the first place they'll look for me.

"We can go back to my hotel room," said Ryou, sounding less than enthusiastic about the idea. "Come on, it's not too far from here."

Yuugi stepped back to let Malik and Ryou go ahead, then fell in beside Jou. He could tell that his friend was bursting with curiosity, unsurprisingly. He really hadn't intended to drag Jou into this, but it seemed like no matter what world they were in he still ended up needing his best friend at his side. He smiled a little. "Would you believe me if I said that an ancient Egyptian pharaoh once lived in my head?"

"That's not funny."

"It's not a joke. I'm being serious. I called him Mou hitori no boku and I miss him more than I ever thought possible." He swallowed, throat aching just from talking about Yami, and went on, "He lived centuries ago and died trying to seal way an evil realm. He was trapped in a Puzzle. When I solved it, I freed him. We shared a body until -"

"Until he left," Jou said slowly. They all stopped walking to stare at him.

"Jou?" Yuugi said, hardly daring to hope.

"I... Last night, well, actually for the last couple of weeks I've been having some weird dreams. Most of it doesn't make sense and I didn't pay much attention to it. I figured that's all they were, just dreams, that maybe all of the stuff you'd been saying was getting to me, but..." Jou looked around at them, his eyes wide with bewilderment. "Wait, are you saying that was all _real_?"

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Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

Jou considered himself to be a fairly open-minded person. When it came to things such as popularity, he had never really cared. He'd learned from experience that those kinds of things could be fleeting, and that real friendship mattered a lot more. That was one of the reasons why he found Yuugi so appealing. The guy might have attracted trouble like a magnet, but he could always count on Yuugi to be reliable and trustworthy. Yuugi had never lied to him before; there was an honesty in their friendship that he'd never found anywhere else. He was pretty sure that was the only reason that he didn't call them all crazy and walk right out the door of Ryou's now cramped hotel room.

He surveyed his best friend carefully, searching for any sign that Yuugi might be pulling his leg. About six months ago the two of them had gone through a stage where they'd pulled some pranks with each other and he was half-hoping that this might've been Yuugi's way of starting that back up again. But no. Yuugi looked perfectly serious, and when Jou glanced over his head at Malik and Ryou the two of them wore identical expressions. There was not even so much as a glimmer of amusement in all three faces. He shifted uneasily, licking his lips as he searched for something to say.

"So... it's true," he said lamely, scratching his head. Fragmented images from those dreams flitted through his mind,_ impossible_ images: duel monsters that actually moved around, an ancient Egyptian city, golden objects with ridiculous powers. It was the sort of stuff he'd find in those bedtime stories he used to read to Shizuka when she was a child. Even after Yuugi had begun ranting, he had never once stopped to think that there was any chance they could be true. Not until now, anyway.

"Yes Jou, it's true," Yuugi said quietly, patiently. "All of those things actually happened. It's just that now no one else seems to be able to remember them." His eyebrows furrowed as he frowned. "Actually, I'm not really sure why you and Seto would remember, even if you are only dreaming about it."

"I have a theory," Malik volunteered. "Jou and Kaiba were the two people who were most exposed to the magic of the Millennium Items after the three of us, if you don't count the other holders. So maybe whatever changed the world is weak enough to the power of the Millennium Items that it couldn't affect them as much." He paused, screwing his face up. "Though that doesn't explain why Nee-chan wouldn't remember me… she had an Item."

"You do have a point, though. Yami actually performed shadow magic on Seto once to get rid of the evil in him," Yuugi admitted. "And Jou took a piece of the puzzle before I put it together, and then afterwards he was the one who spent the most time with us."

"But why wouldn't the others remember, then?" Ryou asked, absently twining a strand of hair around his finger. "I mean, we haven't seen Shadi yet so it's probably safe to assume that he doesn't. I can't imagine he would stay away if he did since he never misses a chance to lord things over you, Yuugi. Isis didn't, and I guess Pegasus is dead so we don't really have the ability to ask him anymore."

"Well obviously the three of us have one thing in common," Yuugi said.

"Even me?" Malik said. "I'm not really…"

"Malik, you are still a hikari," Ryou said firmly. "Even though your yami was born from less traditional means, that doesn't change the fact that you still had one. And if you have a yami, that means you're a hikari whether you're willing to accept that as fact or not. Personally I think that has everything to do with this. No one else really remembers except the three of us. I'd be willing to bet that Seto and Jou remembering is just a fluke or an oversight. This spell was clearly designed with the three of us in mind. The question is, _why_? Why would you change the world so that our yamis never existed? So that the pharaoh and shadow magic never existed? I don't get it. What's the point?"

"To make us miserable?" Yuugi offered after a pause, because Malik didn't seem like he was capable of speaking yet. He scratched his head and blinked heavily. "Except that doesn't really make sense, does it? None of us are particularly unhappy in this world. I've got Jii-chan and my friends. Ryou, you have your old life. Malik, you've got a happy family. Sort of." He amended when Malik made a face.

"That's not really true, though. We weren't unhappy, but that changed when we remembered how things had been before," Malik pointed out. "Ryou started getting jumped by weirdoes. Yuugi, you ended up in an asylum. And as for me, I'm pretty sure nothing could scar me more than the sight of my father sitting at the dinner table dressed in jeans." He gave a shudder that was probably not as fake as he would have liked. "Maybe that is the point. We're miserable _now_. Our lives are fucked up without our yamis. How many times have you two wished that the pharaoh and the thief were here?"

Yuugi carefully did not look at Ryou , but then again he didn't have to because he already knew what he would see if he did. Being locked up in the asylum, he couldn't have counted the times that he had wished to see Yami. The number easily surpassed a hundred, even a thousand. It was probably closer to ten thousand. No matter how many sessions he'd sat through while his therapist tried to figure out why he'd "gone to the trouble of creating a different identity only to have it leave", it hadn't put a stop to the wanting. Not even the drugs were strong enough to stop that. Even right now, sitting in this hotel room with his friends, he would've traded it all for even five minutes with Yami.

Jou cleared his throat. "Um, I didn't understand 90% of what you just said."

"I thought you said you remembered!" Malik said.

"I said I'd been having dreams," Jou corrected him. "And I have been, but for the past couple of weeks I've been doing everything I can to forget all about them because I thought they meant I was losing my mind. Besides, it's not like the dreams give me loads of details."

Yuugi sighed wearily. "Alright. The abridged version is that back in Ancient Egypt, there were some sacred items created in order to win a war. The man who created them was a monster who allowed himself to become influenced by evil. In order to stop this man from taking over the world and unleashing a realm of shadows, the pharaoh at the time allowed himself to be sealed into one of those items. Part of his soul was cast off, left to wander the Earth until it was eventually reborn as me." He tipped his chin up. "When I was sixteen, that item came into my hands and released the other part of the pharaoh's spirit."

There was a long pause. "Okay," Jou said very slowly. "That... leaves me even more lost than before."

"It's complicated," Yuugi said, rubbing his eyes. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, the effect of the drugs were making themselves known. Exhaustion was tugging at him, trying to get him to succumb to sleep after how much energy he had been expending. But he didn't want to sleep. Now that Malik and Ryou were here he thought there was a chance they might actually be able to get somewhere, figure out why and how this was happening.

"You know what, Jou, why don't we take a walk. I'll explain it to you," said Ryou, who had been watching Yuugi closely. He mouthed something at Malik and stood up, gripping Jou's arm and pulling him along. Even though he protested, Jou got up and followed him out of the room.

"Come back with food!" Malik called after them. As the door clicked shut, he turned back to Yuugi. "You don't look so good."

"The hospital decided that drugs were the best way to deal with me, but some of them were too strong," Yuugi mumbled into his hands. As long as he didn't try to focus on anything in particular, the world wasn't spinning too badly. It only really became an issue when he tried to do anything other than sit in exactly the same position and concentrate on just keeping his eyes open.

"Maybe you should lay down?" Malik suggested, and when Yuugi didn't respond he crossed the room and, gently gripping him by the shoulders, pushed him down on the bed. Yuugi wanted to complain, he really did, but the instant that he was horizontal he could feel every muscle in his body relaxing automatically. Sleep rushed over him before he had the chance to protest.

**RMA**

It took all of a minute before Yuugi fell asleep. After studying him to make sure he was really out, Malik pulled off the strange little slippers he was wearing and then tugged a sheet up over Yuugi's body so that he wouldn't develop a chill from the cool room. There wasn't much else to do after he was done that. He didn't feel right in leaving Yuugi alone, particularly when he was unconscious, so he sat down in the one chair and turned the television on with the sound as low as he could make it.

Even though he stared at the screen, though, he realized that he was having a hard time focusing enough to really pay attention to what was going on. He couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened and wondering on what their next course of action should be. How exactly were they supposed to go about fixing things when they had no access to any of the normal resources? And it certainly didn't look like Seto was planning on being much of a help, either. The three of them - four, if Jou decided to stick around - were on their own.

"How did this get so complicated," he muttered, pulling his legs up against his chest and resting his chin on his knees. He and Isis and Rishid had been doing so well. He and Rishid had been working on getting their high school equivalency, even if neither of them had actually agreed to go to public school. Isis loved the work she was doing with the museum. The clan had agree to leave them all alone. For the first time it had felt like they were starting to move on, and then this had to go and undo all of their hard work.

And the really screwed up thing was, he'd been letting go of all of this crap for the first time ever. He'd been taking steps to move on from the all of the hurt and anger he'd been carrying around for ages. There had actually been days when he would go from morning until night without once thinking about the pharaoh or the Millennium Items or their old responsibilities. He hadn't known how to handle that the first time it happened, but he was just starting to get used to it - and now this was dragging him right back down into the shadows that he'd thought he was finally escaping. Literally, if the flickering shadows at the edges of his vision were any indication. He squeezed his eyes shut, digging his fingers into his ankles.

The door slammed open so abruptly that Malik actually squeaked, though he would forever deny it. His head snapped up and he tensed, half expecting to see some of those guys that Ryou had been talking about. He was surprised to see Ryou and Jou barreling into the room instead. Ryou was clutching a torn plastic bag to his chest and had blood seeping from a cut on his throat. Jou was sporting a new set of bruises across his cheek and a grimly determined expression that was startlingly familiar. He slammed the door shut and quickly locked it, though judging from the way he frowned at it he recognized that the rickety old thing would not be enough to stop anyone who really wanted in.

By that time, Malik was on his feet. "What the hell happened?" he demanded, crossing the room in half a dozen steps. He took the bag from Ryou and set it on the table, tipping his friend's chin up. Ryou stepped near enough to lean on him and Malik let him, sliding his other arm around Ryou's weight to brace him as he examined the cut. It was not deep, but it was perfectly placed: had the wielder of the knife pressed even a fraction harder, Ryou would've bled out.

"I was coming out of the convenience store," Ryou said, his face as pale as his hair. He was shaking, though it was only perceptible because they were standing so close. "I had no idea the guy was there until he had the knife to my - my throat. I don't think he realized_ Jou_ was there until Jou came up behind him and knocked him out." He stopped speaking suddenly, his knees buckling, and Malik swore under his breath as he grabbed at Ryou's shoulders to stop him from hitting the ground. He hauled Ryou over to the bed and dumped on the edge. Bizarrely he noticed that Yuugi had not once stirred during the commotion, leading credence to the idea that he was probably still pretty drugged.

"He moved fast," said Jou, who was still standing by the door. He moved as he talked, striding over to the window and pulling the curtains shut. "I didn't even see him until he had Ryou in a headlock. I'm sorry, man, I should've been watching after what you told us before." He shook his head.

Ryou smiled wanly. "It's okay, Jou. I don't blame you for being caught off guard. I should have known better than to think that being chased away would've stopped them once."

"But who exactly _are_ they?" Malik burst out, frustrated beyond belief. Needing something to do, he stormed over to the bathroom and started searching around for a first aid kit to take care of Ryou's throat. He had to admit that he was surprised when he actually found one underneath the sink. It was old and rusty, but there was a serviceable pack of bandages inside that were still sealed.

"I got my first good look at one of them today," said Ryou slowly. "I could've sworn…"

"What?" Jou pressed.

"I thought… it looked like one of Pegasus's guys. The ones who wouldn't leave us alone at Duelist Kingdom," he explained, glancing at Jou hopefully. It didn't look like that was sparking any memories, though. Jou just looked blank and Ryou sighed. "Well, I can't be sure. I haven't seen any of them since we left the Island. I was hoping Jou might've recognized him, but I guess that's not the case…"

"Sorry," Jou said again, though he sounded more uncomfortable this time. "I understand most of what you told me, but that doesn't mean I remember any more of it. Like I said, most of my dreams weren't about anything specific. I get flashes, sometimes, but that's about it. I definitely don't think I'd remember something like a person we didn't have much contact with. Doesn't Malik remember?"

"Um, that was before my time," Malik said before Ryou could answer, wondering just how honest Ryou had been during their little talk. He placed his fingers on Ryou's chin and encouraged him to tilt his head back so that he could press a wet towel against the cut. Ryou sucked in a sharp breath at the sting but didn't protest.

"Oh. Right. Well, either way I don't think we should stay here any longer. They clearly know where we're staying if they were waiting for you at the convenience store, Ryou. They've probably just been biding their time, waiting for the right moment to grab you. We should move."

"We?" Malik couldn't resist asking, a little surprised at Jou's determination to include himself in this little adventure, considering that he'd seemed so unenthusiastic before. But then again, maybe he shouldn't have been. Yuugi and Jou had been a package deal in the previous world; if you took one you got the other no questions asked. The only person that Yuugi had been closer to was the pharaoh, and that was for obvious reasons. It made sense that Jou's sense of loyalty would run every bit as deep in this world as it had in the old one.

"I hardly think that you two are going to let me just take Yuugi and walk away, not that I'm not tempted to try regardless," Jou replied. He shot them both a funny look. "I'd probably do it, too, except that I'm pretty sure Yuugi would legitimately try to murder me when he wakes up. I haven't seen him hug anyone like that since the last time his grandfather went away on a trip a couple of months ago. There's no way I'm leaving my best friend to deal with whatever's out there without me, so I guess that means I'm stuck with you too. And since neither of you appear to have any idea of what you're doing... I'm putting my foot down and saying that we're leaving."

Malik thought about arguing just for the sake of it as he carefully placed the bandage over Ryou's throat, but decided against it. "Where exactly are we going?"

Jou took a deep breath. "My apartment."

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Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

Ryou had never been to Jou's apartment. As far as he knew, not even Yuugi had been granted that particular honor. Jou had always been very private about his personal life, making it a point to keep his friends away from his home as much as possible. And Ryou had never tried to pry, knowing that he wouldn't have appreciated anyone doing that to him. So to say that he felt awkward as he followed Jou up the rickety old stairs was an understatement. He felt like he was getting the opportunity to see into the core of Jonouchi Katsuya, and the boy wasn't even really his friend anymore. It was just more proof that this situation had become totally messed up.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Malik asked in a low voice, grimacing at a stain on the steps that looked suspiciously like blood. Ryou didn't bother to dignify that with a response. Malik knew as well as he did that they simply had nowhere else to go, not unless they wanted to take a train ride back to his apartment in another city - and considering that there was a chance Yuugi's face might've been on the news, that might not even be an option.

"Be quiet," Jou said, grunting as he shifted Yuugi's dead weight so that he could open the door of the stairwell. He stepped through into the hall and shuffled down to the door of his apartment, which was unlocked. Ryou and Malik followed him in silently as he set Yuugi down on the couch and shut the door. The lock wasn't much, not nearly as strong as it should've been as far as Ryou was concerned, but he snapped it anyway and turned to look at the two of them. Ryou blinked back at him, uncertain as to what he should say.

"I'm hungry," Malik said.

Definitely not that. Ryou elbowed him none too gently, feeling a flicker of guilt as Jou rolled his eyes and turned towards the kitchen. Jou and his father didn't seem to have much money judging by the state of the apartment, and it didn't seem right to take what little they had. But he was hungry enough that he took the pop tart Jou offered him, biting into it and licking the strawberry gel from his fingers. His mouth ached when he chewed and he only ended up eating half of it before he pressed his fingers against his mouth and shook his head, handing the rest of it to Malik. Though Malik shot him a concerned look, he devoured the remainder.

"Do you think we should try to wake Yuugi up?" Jou said, finishing his own pop tart in record time.

"I don't even know if we can," Ryou replied. Yuugi hadn't stirred the whole way to Jou's apartment, even though it had been a good twenty minute walk. Even now he remained unconscious, his moving chest the only indication that he was even still alive. "It might be best to just let him sleep unless we have to."

"I think the better question is, what are we going to do?" Malik wanted to know, wandering across the room and flopping down into one of the chairs.

"I wish I had an answer," Ryou muttered, gently lifting Yuugi's shoulders and sliding down onto the couch. He lowered Yuugi's head onto his lap, noticing how pale and wan Yuugi looked into the dim light. "We can't keep hiding out forever. Everyone knows that Yuugi and Jou are best friends. It wouldn't surprise me if the police show up tomorrow wanting to ask Jou questions."

"Let me handle the police if they come," said Jou with a grim smile. "I've dealt with them before and it's not nearly as difficult as it sounds. In the meantime, though, Malik's right. I think we need to concentrate on what we're going to do next. We can't stay here forever. Sooner or later my father's going to come home, and he's definitely going to notice that you're here." He turned away and Ryou heard him mutter, "Even he won't be able to miss that."

"We can't just wander around from place to place forever," Malik said reasonably. "We have to figure out who is behind this and decide how we're going to stop them." He was looking at Ryou as he spoke. "That's how the pharaoh and Yuugi always dealt with things, right?"

"More or less," Ryou said. It had normally ended up being a little more complicated than that. Usually each new threat they had faced came with its own set of issues, but it was true that Yuugi and Yami had always been able to figure out what was going on. Of course, that was back when Yami had been around. He wasn't now. And that meant they were missing a wealth of information about the shadow realm and magic in general, not to mention that they were pretty much defenseless since they couldn't summon any monsters.

Malik seemed to know what he was thinking. "I could try calling Nee-chan," he said hesitantly, and it was clear that he was not pleased about the idea. "I mean, in the other world she was the holder of the Tawk... she was able to summon monsters then, so maybe..."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Ryou said after considering it for all of a few seconds. As much as he craved to have someone with ties to the Millennium Items around if he couldn't have who he really wanted, he didn't think that Isis was going to be able to help them much. Malik had already confirmed that she didn't remember anything about the other world. Bringing her here would only put her into danger, and there was no guarantee that she would be able to summon anything - and that was if the shadow realm even still existed, which they also couldn't be certain of. He rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

"Oh, okay," Malik said immediately, looking relieved.

"Is there a way that you could bring back your friends?" Jou asked.

"Our friends?" Ryou asked, frowning.

"You know, those guys you keep talking about. The pharaoh," Jou said, waving his hand. "Bakura, or whatever it was you called him, and yours." He glanced at Malik before shrugging. "I just thought... well, you guys seem to be at a total loss without them. So maybe you should think about trying to bring them back."

Ryou's heart turned over. Or at least, that's what it felt like. His chest tightened and for a couple of very long seconds he couldn't breathe. Malik said shakily, "I don't think... it's not that simple, Jou. That's not how it works."

"Why not?"

"It's just... not."

Jou raised an eyebrow. He didn't seem to find that argument very convincing. "Have you tried?" he asked, sounding far too reasonable in Ryou's opinion. "I mean, I'm not saying that you're wrong. It might not work. But if you've never given it a shot then you don't really know if it's possible. At the very least, it would give us an edge if these guys are as a knowledgeable as you make them sound."

"They are," Ryou managed to say. It was the only thing he could think of, because it was true. Bakura had always sought after knowledge, striving to educate himself on anything and everything in the modern world - especially if he thought there was a particular subject that might benefit him, like modern locks and how someone might go about learning to pick them. He suspected that all three of the yamis would have an idea of how to start looking for their pursuers.

"Then maybe you ought to ask," Jou said, and he made it sound so damned simple as he scratched his head. "Look, I'm going to take a quick shower. If Yuugi wakes up, try to get him to eat something. It's probably been a while since he has. You can help yourself to anything you want. Just don't go anywhere." He gave them a lingering look, and Ryou realized how much trust Jou was putting in them at that moment to not just take Yuugi and run away. In the middle of a horrifying situation, it was almost nice.

For a couple of minutes the only sound in the room was that of Jou's receding footsteps. Ryou and Malik listened in silence as a door closed and then the shower watched on. Only then did Malik say, "Much as I hate to admit it, he might actually have had a point."

"Are you kidding me?" Ryou asked, tipping his head back against the couch. It came out a little harsher than he'd intended, but his throat stung and he was exhausted. He wasn't in the mood to have hope dangled in front of his eyes.

"No. Yes. I don't know," Malik said, and he sounded every bit as lost as Ryou felt. He sank down into one of the chairs. "The only thing I know is that we can't handle this by ourselves. You almost got killed, Ryou. Killed dead. As in not living anymore. I saw the mark on your neck, if that guy had pressed even a little bit harder you would've bled out and no one would've been able to do a damn thing about it. It was pure luck that Jou was with you, but what if he hadn't been? You can't protect yourself from people like that. Yuugi sure as hell can't. Even I couldn't. So if you're telling me you have a better idea than begging for help and praying someone up there is listening, I'm all ears."

Ryou closed his eyes, swallowing against the burning in his throat that had nothing to do with the cut and everything to do with the tears trying to force their way out. Much as he hated to admit it, Malik was right. He'd been helpless when that guy grabbed him. "I just don't see how it could be possible. Yami went through the gates, for one thing. How do you come back from something like that?"

"I don't know, but I have no idea what else to do."

"What if we got weapons?"

Malik snorted. "Us?" he said skeptically. "Please. Even if we could learn how to use them, and I doubt that we could considering that those guys seem to be pretty intent on tracking us down sooner rather than later, where would we get them from?"

"Kaiba?" Ryou suggested, not liking that they'd come to this already.

"You want to go to Kaiba for help?" Malik made it sound like Ryou had suggested murdering someone and having a naked dance around the body. Actually, judging from the expression on his face, he would've preferred that. "Look, Ryou, I know that he's sort of friends with Yuugi and that he got his arm twisted into helping once in a while, but Kaiba didn't seem too enthusiastic when he got out of the car. I have the feeling that if we show up on his doorstep he's going to slam the door in our faces. Or maybe just call in his own security to finish us off, depending on whether he's in a bad mood."

Put like that, it made an already unappetizing idea sound even worse. Ryou sighed. "How would we even go about doing it?" he asked carefully.

"I'm not really sure," Malik admitted, dropping his hands into his lap. "It's not like my clan regularly tried to contact the dead. I mean, I know that the pharaoh is in the afterlife. That's a given. If we have a chance of reaching anyone, it would be him."

The implication that Yami might be the only to return made Ryou's stomach tighten. He tried not to imagine what it would be like to watch Yami and Yuugi interact without Bakura around, knowing that he was still alone, but the pictures filtered into his mind regardless and left him feeling ill. "We'd have to wait for Yuugi to wake up," he said tonelessly.

"Ryou." Malik waited until Ryou glanced up at him before he said, "I'm not saying that we won't be able contact Bakura too. There's a good chance he might've made it to the afterlife as well, all things considered. I don't want to get your hopes up, because we might do this and not be able to reach anyone, you know? But Isis always told me that when it comes to rituals, the most important part is how you feel. If you really want Bakura back, there's a much better chance that it might happen."

"I do," Ryou said, not even needing to think about it to know that it was the truth. His yearning was growing stronger with every passing second, a hard little ball in the pit of his belly that was impossible to ignore. And there was no need to wonder about Yuugi; it had been painful to watch how much Yuugi struggled in the wake of the pharaoh's departure. The real question was... "But... what about you?"

Malik looked uncomfortable. "What about me?"

"You have to prepare yourself for that possibility, too."

"I know." Malik lowered his eyes, refusing to meet his gaze now. "I've already thought about that."

"And?"

"And I think there's still merit in what Jou is asking us to do."

Ryou took a deep breath, suddenly realizing the significance of what they were discussing. It left him a little lightheaded. "What do we need to do?"

"Rest."

"What?"

"We're both tired, and Yuugi's exhausted." As one, they both glanced down at Yuugi. "We need to find somewhere relatively safe where we can recuperate. Rituals tend to drain a lot of magic. I don't know that we'd be strong enough to even try like this."

"What _about_ magic?" Ryou said, because he hadn't thought of this. "None of us can access the Shadow Realm. What if it doesn't exist here?"

"We're pleading to the gods, not the shadows," Malik replied with an amused quirk of his mouth. Ryou shot him a cross look and he grinned. "I know what you're asking, and I think that the shadows are still here. I told you, I can see them sometimes out of the corner of my eye. It's never for very long, and I can't see anything that matters, but... if someone who knew how to use them were here -"

"It would be enough," Ryou concluded, rubbing his eyes. Malik was right, he could feel fatigue creeping up on him. His throat hurt and the rest of his bruises were all aching from exertion. "Okay. I guess we'll wait until Jou gets out of the shower and then we'll go find a hotel room. I hope I have enough left in my bank account."

"Don't worry about it. I'll take a cash advance out on Hafiz's card."

"But then he'll know where you are."

The look Malik gave him was entirely reckless and far too vengeful for Ryou's comfort. "Good. At least that means my yami will have a target if he does end up returning."

**RMA**

"Nii-sama!"

Somehow, Kaiba Seto was not surprised in the least to find that his younger brother had disobeyed his explicit order to remain at the mansion. Mokuba was instead sitting in the front seat of the car Seto had asked for, his head hanging out the window and a large, if tentative, smile on his face. He looked like a puppy, uncertain as to whether his greeting would be welcomed but so excited that he couldn't resist making it, and for a split second there was a part of Seto that felt a pang of guilt.

Through it all, the accusations and the stares and the plummeting stock in Kaiba Corp, Mokuba was the one person who had stood by him. He'd insisted that there was no way Seto could be responsible for the things he was being accused of. He'd never even bothered to ask, and considering that Seto actually _was_ guilty of one of those murders he wasn't sure if he found Mokuba's loyalty touching or foolish. He did not regret pushing Gozaburo out that window, but looking at Mokuba's earnest face he found himself wishing he had chosen to handle things differently.

The brief instant of second guessing let him off guard and he scowled, detesting any regret that came associated with the bitterness of Kaiba Gozaburo. "You were told to stay at the mansion," he snapped, striding around to the other side of the car.

Mokuba's expression wilted. "I know. I just - I wanted to see you, Nii-sama. I haven't seen you for a while now, not since they took you away. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He got into the driver's seat, slamming the door harder than he'd intended. Mokuba flinched just a little and Seto swallowed, staring straight ahead through the windshield. He didn't know why he acted this way with the brother who adored him. Their relationship had never been the same after they were adopted and Seto didn't know how to fix it. Some days he wasn't even sure he wanted to, times when the cruelty swelling up inside of him left him hungry for things Mokuba could never be a part of.

"They're still chasing you," said Mokuba. "I... took one of the boxes? From your room?"

Knowing that he meant the safety boxes, set up years ago for just such an event, Seto made an effort to smooth the rage from his face. He suspected he wasn't successful as he said stiffly, "Thank you. I'll drop you off at home and then I'll go."

"But I want -"

"I _said_, I'll drop you off."

Mokuba stared at him for a few seconds before dropping his gaze and whispering, "Yes sir." He did not ask where Seto would be going or when he would return.

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	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Enjoy!

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When Yuugi woke up and heard what his friends were planning, he wondered if he was actually still dreaming. But no - one hard pinch to the inside of his forearm told him that he was definitely awake. He gently rubbed the stinging spot, glancing from Malik to Ryou. "And you think this actually has a chance of working?" he asked with a fair amount of skepticism, trying to hide the way his heart had lurched at the suggestion. He'd had dreams, on occasion, that Yami had returned, but he'd never allowed himself to really think about it.

"I don't know," Malik said wearily, rubbing his eyes with his fists. He looked like a toddler who was ready for a nap. "But like I said to Ryou, I really don't think there's any harm in giving it a shot. If nothing happens then so be it, at least we'll know it was a lost cause. But if we don't try then I think we're doing ourselves a disservice. We'll always wonder if maybe it could've been done."

Yuugi had never wondered. He couldn't. It would be too easy to go down that road and lose himself in wanting. But now that Malik had put the idea in his head, there was no way he would be able to let go of it. He cleared his throat and sat up, feeling a little dizzy. "What exactly would we need to do?" he asked.

"That's the other problem. We'd just have to make up the ritual because I really don't know. Nee-chan always handled that part of things. It was a part of what she was taught, but she kept most of that stuff from me and after we escaped from the clan I never thought I'd have need of it or I would've tried to learn some of it." Malik heaved a sigh. "Normally I'd just be able to ask her, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have any idea of what I was talking about. And even if she did and we could get to Egypt, _I_ wouldn't have the slightest idea of where to go about finding the scrolls that she'd need. Our clan kept them hidden in a special room, but since the pharaoh doesn't seem to have existed in this world..." He trailed off and shrugged helplessly.

"So in other words, we know exactly what we're doing," Ryou said sarcastically, shrugging. He'd repeated the story behind his bandaged throat to Yuugi, but he'd been strangely silent since then. He was sitting by the window, looking out at the street below the hotel. Yuugi suspected he was watching for any sign of the men who'd attacked him, but didn't bother to ask for details.

"All we can do is try," he murmured now. "Malik, do you think you could make up a ritual?"

"I'd need to collect some things, and it wouldn't be as powerful as the kind that Isis could perform, but I don't see why not."

"Then you should go and do that now. If we are going to do this, I think we should do it as soon as possible. It sounds like those guys are getting closer." Yuugi shot Ryou a worried look, not liking how subdued Ryou was acting. Things would certainly be better if their yamis came back. At the very least, they wouldn't have to worry so much about their attackers - though Yuugi was very aware of the fact that Yami returning didn't necessarily mean he wouldn't be shipped off to the asylum again. He tried not to think about that because it made his heart start to pound too quickly.

"You shouldn't go alone," said Ryou. "Just because those guys have only targeted me so far doesn't mean that they won't be watching for you, too."

"I'm not leaving you guys here alone," Jou said. Up until that point, he'd been sitting on the other bed flipping through the channels on the muted television like he wasn't paying them any attention at all. Now, though, he set the remote down and sat up to fix them all with a determined look.

"But you're the only one who can," Yuugi pointed out. It chafed at him to know he was stuck in this room until some kind of disguise could be made up, at the very least a hat to cover his distinctive hair, but that didn't mean his friends had to be trapped here with him. "Ryou shouldn't go because those guys are clearly watching for him, but they might not have gotten a good look at you." And, he didn't say, Jou was a lot more capable of handling any attacks than Ryou was.

Jou sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine," he muttered. "But you guys lock the door and don't let anyone else in, you hear me?"

"I doubt we're going to be getting any visitors," Ryou said, finally turning away from the window. "This hotel is a lot more respectable than the one I was staying at before, and anyone who causes trouble here is going to be noticed. Whoever it is, I can't believe they'd be that stupid to do anything where there's a chance that they'd be caught. They'll wait until no one's around. That's what they've done before."

"We won't be gone long," Malik added quietly. "There's not a lot that I can buy. Either the ritual will work or it won't, and outside influences will only go so far towards changing that."

That didn't seem to comfort Jou too much, but he got up and went out the door with Malik. As soon as they were gone Ryou flipped the lock and drew the curtains across the window. Even though there were two of them the room seemed strangely empty and Yuugi sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He was still tired but he didn't feel like sleeping anymore, too restless with thoughts of what might happen to be able to put his head back down on the pillows.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said, because he wasn't sure what else to do, and when Ryou didn't respond he carefully stood up and went over to the bathroom. The water was hot and he lingered long after he'd washed and shampooed his hair, eyes shut as the tension slowly seeped from his muscles. He heard the outside door opening and closing and sighed, realizing that Malik and Jou must have returned already. He climbed out and, after a few seconds of hesitation, pulled on a bathrobe rather than the clothing from the asylum.

Malik glanced up at him when he walked out and tossed him a bag. "Bought you a pair of pants and a shirt," he said.

Yuugi clutched the bag to his chest, touched that Malik had thought ahead. "Thanks. Did you pick up everything you needed? You weren't gone long."

A weary look on his face, Malik just shook his head and Yuugi understood. Without Isis, it was probably a lot harder to find the sort of things that Malik might have been looking for. He ducked back into the bathroom to change, and by the time he came out again the lights had been flipped off and Ryou was carefully setting candles at specific places around the room. Jou was sitting over a bowl, crumbling up what looked like herbs, and Malik pushed him into the bathroom. Yuugi turned around to watch, curious, and in the mirror he saw his eyes get big when he saw what Malik was holding.

"Oh, relax," Malik said, amusement coloring his voice, looking at him in the mirror without turning. "I get it, you're not into that sort of thing." He sounded warm, teasing, as he tilted the knife into the sink and started pouring a bottle of disinfectant over it.

"What's it for?" Yuugi asked cautiously.

"Couple reasons , neither of which you're probably going to be that crazy about. We needed something that's going to attract the attention of the gods. Traditionally that would be a sacrifice of some kind. That's what my clan used to do, either a goat or a chicken or whatever they deemed necessary depending on what they were trying to do." He rinsed the knife one last time and then pulled it out of the water, watching as it gleamed in the light. The blade looked sharp. "Obviously we couldn't sacrifice something like that around here. I'm pretty sure that would be noticed."

"Um, yeah," Yuugi said, a little disturbed at the thought. "What's the other reason, then?"

"We need a link to the yamis," Malik replied simply. He finally twisted around to look at Yuugi. "Something tangible that connects to them, and what's closer to them than us?"

"Oh. So we're going to have to..."

"That's right."

Yuugi glanced at the knife. At first he wasn't sure how he felt about willingly allowing himself to be cut. But then he thought about what the success of the ritual would mean and he nodded. "Alright, I guess that makes sense. As long as you don't have to take too much. And as long as it doesn't matter that there's still drugs in me. I still don't feel right."

"It'll probably take a while for them to completely metabolize out of your system, but I don't think that will matter." Malik stopped talking and took a deep breath before he reached out to turn the light off. The only light now came from the flickering candles. "Are you guys ready?"

"Yep," Jou said. "Here's your bowl of grass."

"_Herbs_, Jou." Malik's mouth twitched with amusement as he took the bowl and set it down on the ground. "There's one more thing we need to do." Carefully, he took the knife and sliced off a little bit of his hair. He dropped it in the bowl and looked at Yuugi and Ryou expectantly. Yuugi tried to cut off a few strands underneath, where it wouldn't show as much. Ryou didn't seem to care whether his hair was left uneven. When they were done, Malik stirred the contents of the bowl together.

Then he sat down on one side, and after exchanging a look with Ryou Yuugi sat down beside him. Ryou sat down between them, completing the triangle with the bowl in the middle. Jou backed off to the side, safely hidden behind one of the beds just in case something happened that he didn't want to be a part of. Yuugi watched, curious, as Malik began murmuring under his breath. The words were spoken too softly to hear, but Yuugi had the feeling he wouldn't have been able to understand them regardless.

After a couple of minutes, Malik picked up the knife again and held it against the palm of his dominant hand. Yuugi's stomach twisted as Malik smoothly dragged the knife across his palm, allowing bright red blood to bead up and trickle from his skin. Several drops landed on the bowl of herbs. He quickly passed the knife to Ryou. Though Ryou's face was expressionless, Yuugi noticed that his hands were trembling just a little as he copied Malik's actions. His blood joined Malik's in the bowl, and then the knife was offered to Yuugi. He felt sick as he took it, squeezing his eyes shut as he pressed it against his flesh. It didn't hurt at first, like his body was too surprised by the wound, but by the time his blood struck the bowl it had begun to sting horribly.

Malik held his hand up towards Yuugi and Ryou in a silent invitation that they obeyed. Their palms pressed together, the three of them crowding together, blood mingling above the bowl as well as within. Yuugi felt a strange tingling sensation that made him gasp. Biting his lip, the only sign that he was at all affected by what was going on, Malik reached behind him with his free hand and groped around until he found the lighter that Ryou had used to light the candles. He flicked it several times with his thumb until the little flame popped up. Carefully, he lowered it towards the bowl and held it just right for the flame to catch the herbs.

Yuugi jumped at the resulting rush of fire, the contents of the bowl vanishing quickly under a swirl of flames that burned pure white. He stared at them in fascination, noticing that as their blood continued to fall the flames hissed and spat louder, small licks jumping up in anticipation. He found himself thinking about Yami, about the way that his partner's determination had never died out. From the very beginning Yami had set his course and made the decision to follow it through. Though Yuugi had stuck with him every step of the way, that had not stopped him from wishing that Yami could stay instead of returning to the afterlife where he belonged. It didn't stop him from wishing that Yami was here now.

Abruptly the candles and the fire went out, plunging the room into darkness. The tingling in Yuugi's hand, now bordering on a pins-and-needles level of pain that felt as deep as the bone, slowly died away to be replaced by numbness. A heavy silence fell and they all jumped when Jou flipped the lights on. Yuugi winced and lifted his free hand to shield his eyes from the glare, belatedly realizing that his palm was still pressed against Malik's and Ryou's and that all three of them were still bleeding. No wonder he was beginning to feel lightheaded. In spite of that, he was reluctant to pull his hand away.

"Are you guys okay?" Jou asked, breaking the silence. He looked worried as he rounded the bed and stepped towards them, scooping up the bandages he and Malik had bought.

"Yes," Yuugi said after several seconds had gone by and it became evident that Malik and Ryou were not going to respond. As though by mutual, unspoken decision, they all pulled their hands away at the same time. Yuugi stared down at his palm, which was so smeared with blood his flesh wasn't visible until halfway up his fingers and well down his wrist. He knew that not all of it was his blood. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Right…" Jou said slowly, clearly not believing him for a minute. He took charge then, bringing a bowl of clean water over and carefully tending to all of their hands. He started with Yuugi, who submitted to the bandaging without protest. The wound didn't even hurt anymore; it was still numb even with Jou's prodding.

Jou moved on to Ryou once he'd wrapped fresh bandages around Yuugi's hand and Yuugi flexed his fingers, expecting the pain to begin at any moment. It didn't. He looked up and caught Malik's eye. "Why did you put your blood in too?" he asked, not sure why he was trying to provoke Malik this way. "Ryou and I could've done this by ourselves. This way, you're calling attention to your yami as well."

"I don't know if it would've worked with just the two of you," Malik said, picking up the bowl to start cleaning his own hand. "It had to be all or nothing."

It was such a blatant lie that Yuugi was tempted to call him on it, but he didn't. Malik had his own reasons and he already felt guilty about asking. He sighed and looked back down at the bowl. There was nothing left to indicate that there had ever been anything inside: blood, hair and herbs had been burnt to ashes. And even as he watched, Malik picked up the bowl and walked over to the window. He unlatched the screen and threw the ashes out into the open air. In a matter of seconds, they were gone.

When he turned around, Jou said, "Did it work?"

Malik hesitated and then shook his head. "I don't know."

**RMA**

The world had faded to a conflicting mass of threaded greys and purples and black by the time that the pharaoh opened his eyes again. He was dizzy, which was unusual because ever since he'd stepped into the afterlife physical afflictions like exhaustion or thirst or hunger had not been an issue. He ate and slept and drank because he wanted to, because it added a rhythm to the days and nights that marked their passing, not because he needed to. He had not felt this lightheaded in a very long time.

A familiar voice, swearing violently, alerted him to the fact that he was not alone. He sat up, grimacing as the world spun, and looked into an equally familiar face. "Tomb Robber," he said, surprised to see the man. He'd known that the thief had made it to the afterlife, but by unspoken agreement the two of them had kept their distance.

"Pharaoh," came the displeased response, pale eyes narrowing in annoyance. "What the hell are we doing here? Is this one of your tricks? Did you bring me here? I swear –"

"I had nothing to do with this, not that I think you'll believe me when I say that. I'm at just as much of a loss as you are. What do you –" This time he was the one cut off by someone groaning in pain. The two men exchanged glances, recognizing that voice, automatically readying themselves for a fight.

"What's he doing here? I thought you killed him."

"I thought I did, too," the pharaoh muttered as the third man finally sat up, dark blond hair sticking up wildly.

"You were brought here to make a decision." The shadows shifted before the fight could begin, peeling away to reveal the Egyptian Gods. "Listen now, think carefully and choose wisely, for you will not having a second opportunity."

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